3 Hours Smoking at Baltic CSWC

Suddenly it happened. The question on everyone’s mind has been answered. Would anyone be able to break the three-hour limit with the new Oliva competition cigar? On the Cigar Smoking World Championship circuit so far, various consistent three-hour smokers have failed. World record holder Klaudia Ide’s best time so far is 2 hours and 19 minutes in training, for instance. The closest have been Etan Patel from the UK and Tormod Skaaraas from Norway, who both reached over two and a half hours smoking time. Until now, that is. At the Baltic qualification round, not just one, but three competitors managed to break the spell.

The starting field at the Baltic qualifier was a strong one to say the least, maybe one of the strongest ever. Former champions and runners-up, world record holders and names on the All Time Top 20 list showed up to compete for the title, and nobody was left disappointed. In fact, it turned into the most remarkable race so far. In tough competition, former Belarusian and Latvian champion, Sergey Galevsky, took home the title as he smoked for an impressive three hours 18 minutes and 7 seconds. Behind him the 2017 world champion Alexander Shagai reached 3 hours, 11 minutes and 10 seconds while former world record holder Oleg Pedan just barely crossed that magic line with the smallest margin possible, at 3 hours and 1 second. Psychologically important, if nothing else.

“All three shattered the season’s previous ceiling, sending a clear message to the CSWC world that this cigar is ready for big times,” CSWC founder Marki Bilic says. “It was a moment the global CSWC community had been waiting for.”

Last year’s runner-up Anastasya Arsenova also made her first appearance, with a performance that would have landed her a third place in the Top 20 times of the season, had it not been for these three gentlemen. With 2 hours 30 minutes and 25 seconds, she proves she’s still a contender, though.

The results couldn’t have come at a more exciting time, either, with the German qualifier, featuring reigning champion and the dominating force of the slow smoking world, Hauke Walter, coming up. Will “The Iceman” be able to respond, or will he buckle under pressure? We’ll know, soon enough.

“One thing is now certain,” Bilic says. “The game has changed. The three-hour barrier is broken, and the grand final in Split promises to be one of the most unpredictable and exciting in CSWC history.”

1. Sergey Galevsky 3:18:07
2. Alexander Shagai 3:11:10
3. Oleg Pedan 3:00:01