Siriema at the bracket sorting meeting. Photo: Ivan Trindade
This July 22 the Rio International Open kicks off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The competition was first held in the city in 2008, and it has since conquered the world.
Installments have taken place in big cities in the United States with the New York Open, Houston Open and Miami Open. On August 14 there will be the inaugural Las Vegas International Open, on the 22nd of the same month is the maiden Chicago Open and the Honolulu Open is set to debut on the 4th. And there’s more brewing.
“Next year we’ll hold the event in Australia, on a date yet to be determined. We’ll have the first ones in Las Vegas and Chicago this August, and we’ll return to Hawaii, where two editions of the Pan were held in the past. The mission is to take Jiu-Jitsu to the world by way of the IBJJF,” says Marcelo Araujo, vice-president of the entity.
Siriema, as he is known, heads the entire IBJJF and CBJJ championship structure, and is one of those responsible for the championships’ standard of quality around the world. The trend being followed is the place greater weight on the said “International Open” championships across the globe, as they have become a tradition and carry importance for being an international title.
“It would be hard to set up a ranking system for the competitions, due to the difficulty in competitors traveling to all the locations where the event is held. But we intend to benefit the champions in the future. For example, they will already be better placed in the brackets at the World Championship,” he reports.
For more on the International Open competitions and to participate, click here.