The first Hungarian Grappling Open for Cadets, Juniors and Seniors that took place in the lovely city of Budapest on 21 November 2009 was a huge success. Over 80 athletes from 11 countries (namely Hungary, Croatia, Spain, Austria, Greece, Ukraine, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Switzerland) took part in the tournament that was organized both in the Gi and No-Gi divisions. The participation of countries somewhat new to the grappling world and the remarkable level shown by the athletes prove that FILA grappling is gaining great momentum. 

The organization under the supervision of Mr. Valer Papp and the Zen Bu Kan Kempo Federation can be congratulated. Despite a slight problem with the FILA competition software that caused a delay in the morning, the tournament ran smoothly throughout the day and the high level of matches never allowed a moment of dreariness. The participating athletes came from completely different submission fighting backgrounds, such as Gracie and Brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, sambo, grappling, judo, or kempo karate, but they all felt comfortable with the easy and straight forward FILA grappling rules. The atmosphere among the competitors was fantastic and very fair. 

The strong Hungarian team won the team trophy before Croatia and Spain that ended up third thanks to the great performance of Jose Luis Zapater who got several medals in the regular and open divisions. The trophy for the best athlete went to the young 74kg European Champion from Switzerland, Mr. Peter Mettler, who managed to win every fight of the very strong Gi and No-Gi divisions by submission. He then went on to compete in the open Gi category, facing the experienced Zapater from Spain and the Hungarian Gusztav Diez, winner of the 120kg Gi category. Giving up age and weight, Peter Mettler pulled off a remarkable win in the open division and confirmed his great mastery of the sport. Complete results are available at the following link. 

We are certain that the Hungarian Open will be one of the future top European events with a level that will rival the continental championship.