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instrumental in increasing popularity of motor sports in Turkey.
The Günaydın (Fiat) Rally was first run in 1972 and the Rally of Turkey began to give a coefficient of 20 to the European Rally Championship. Thus, Turkey became one of the ten countries where a 20 coefficient race was organized.
The Anatolian Rally organized by the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation has been included in the calendar of the World Rally Championship in 2003 and Turkey has been admitted into the calendar of the “Formula 1 World Championship” in 2005, the first grand prix taking place at the İstanbul Park Circuit on August 21, 2005. This event
was organized under the sponsorship of a Turkish trademark for the first time in 2006 under the name of “Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix”.
Skiing. A group of teachers from the Galatasaray Lyceum pioneered this sport in Turkey in 1933 by skiing at Uludağ, Bursa. A “Mountaineering and Equestrianism Federation” was established in 1935 but the name was changed into “Mountaineering and Winter Sports Federation”. However, skiing in Turkey started to develop after the current “Skiing Federation” was set up and Turkish skiers began to take part in international competitions. Turkish skiers won 15 gold, ten silver and 9 bronze medals in the international contests in 2005.
Judo and Kurash. According to some sources, judo is an ancient Turkish sport born in Central Asia. However, the Japanese took it over, stylized it and transformed it into a game with rules. Although judo entered Turkey after 1964, the outstanding performance of Turkish athletes in the 1971 Mediterranean Games by winning five medals in five categories could be an indication that the Turks were acquinted with judo long time ago. In recent international tournaments, eleven Turkish athletes managed to receive 43 medals. |
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Kurash, a similar type of martial art, is the traditional upright jacket wrestling. The rules prohibit ground wrestling and techniques are applied at standing position. Turkish men’s and women’s national teams became world cham-pions in the Second World Kurash Championship. In the Third
European Kurash Cham-pionship, Turkish athletes won six gold, four silver and three bronze medals, while the women secured five gold, five silver and five bronze medals. Thus, the Turkish national team appeared on the cham-pionship podium in both categories.
Billiards. Pool tables that could only be seen in palaces and rich mansions at the |
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World Billiards Champion
Semih Saygıner |
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beginning of the 19th century began to appear in game halls frequented by youngsters after 1935. However, the Billiards Federation could only be established in 1993.
Turkish World Champion Semih Saygıner’s successful and popular performances in his shows all over the world, including Argentina, Colombia, USA, Japan and all European countries actually helped to promote Turkey’s image among billiards fans. While Yılmaz Özcan placed first in the World Cup qualifiers in 1997, Turkish Ladies Team won the European Championship Nine Ball in 1998, Semih Saygıner won the European Championship Three Cushion in 1999 and Murat Naci Çoklu won the same event in 2004. Semih Saygıner also won the World Cup and the title
of “Sportsman |
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