Despite being one of the most cigar-friendly countries in Europe, Cyprus has never had its own Cigar Smoking World Championship qualification round, until now. This summer Cyprus was one of six new countries on the circuit and the competition was held at the Ligero Cigar Shop and Lounge in Limassol, a haven for cigar aficionados which boasts one of the largest walk-in humidors in Europe.
According to the CSWC organization, it all came to life thanks to two people, the official CSWC judge, Christos Philotheou, and Constantinos Theodorou, the host and owner of Ligero Cigar Shop and Lounge.
“Christos Philotheou invested significant effort in preparing the local community for the competition, organizing pre-trainings and gatherings to properly introduce the CSWC format to Cyprus,” CSWC founder Marko Bilic says. “His hard work paid off, resulting in a successful and thrilling competition that exceeded expectations, with participants achieving unusually good times for a debut race.”
The historic winner in the end was Vadims Bocarovs. Despite three penalty minutes he reached a time of 1 hour 45 minutes and 17 seconds, almost 12 minute ahead of Panayiotis Fotiades in second place. Marios Hadjimarkou came in third at 1 hour 20 minutes and 2 seconds.
All in all, Bilic was more han happy with the inaugural event.
“It was a resounding success, setting a high standard for future competitions on the island,” he says. “The excitement and enthusiasm of the participants highlighted the potential for slow smoking to become a beloved tradition within the Cyprus cigar community.”
- Vadims Bocarovs 1:45:17
- Panayiotis Fotiades 1:33:40
- Marios Hadjimarkou 1:20.02
