Arsenova CSWC Champion in Georgia

It’s become a tradition for the Cigar Smoking World Championship qualifier in Georgia to attract participants from other countries. This was the third year and by now the geographical span has expanded quite a bit.

“Cigar athletes from Azerbaijan, Poland, Germany and Spain gave a new impetus to the development of cigar culture of the country, and increased competition among the participants,” organizer and CSWC judge, Yevgeniy Zhidkov, says.

The competition was held at the third Havana Club establishment in Tbilisi and the atmosphere was on fire from the very beginning.

“The start of the race and clarifying questions to me calmed down the “heated” cigar athletes a bit, but it also sparked new emotions”, Zhidkov says. “Both those who were eliminated at the very beginning and those who fought until the end focused on the process of smoking, discussing and whispering among themselves about the new competition cigar and its peculiarities.”

By the end of the first hour there were ten participants left at the tables, and by the end of the second hour the three medalists were determined.

The first one to drop out of this leaders’ race was Daiusz Jacek from Poland. He took third place with 2:02:13. The silver medalist Elena Tronina, also from Poland, lasted five minutes longer, but as almost always when she’s present, Anastasia Arsenova stole the show.

At a pre-qualifier in Kazakhstan earlier in the season she had set the tone by smoking for 3 hours 42 minutes and 6 minutes, the best time this year and only 11 minutes shorter than Klaudia Ide’s world record. In Georgia she didn’t quite make it that far, but she still left the participants waiting for the final result of the tournament for more than an hour. The best result in the history of Georgian CSWC qualifiers is now 3 hours 21 minutes and 29 seconds. Arsenova is undoubtedly going to be a tough nut to crack for reigning world champion Hauke Walter at the grand final in Split later this year.

The day after the participants turned into tourists when they got to see Zhinvali Lake with its beautiful temples from the 13^th and 14^th centuries and the magnificent wine region of Kakheti, where the guests were introduced to the variety of wine culture of the country and of course a wonderful cuisine.

“I was amazed by the excellent organization of the event,” Osvaldo Diaz, participant from Spain, says. “The fight at the tournament and the wonderful gifts, the variety of nature, the wines and the cuisine of Georgia will remain in my memory for a long time. I didn’t want to leave. I even wanted to go to the next tournament in Azerbaijan, and after receiving photos from the new friends I found in Georgia, I realized that I was wrong not to give in to the impulse. Next year I think it will be necessary to expand the geography of traveling to CSWC tournaments.”

1. Anastasia Arsenova 3:21:29
2. Elena Tronina 2:07:43
3. Daiusz Jacek 2:02:13