IBSA have announced additions to their 2016 calendar ©IBSA

International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) has announced several tournaments for their 2016 calendar which will give athletes the opportunity to hone their skills ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Following the completion of the European Judo Championships in Portugal last month, judokas will be given the opportunity to compete at the 2016 Open German Judo Championships in Heidelberg on February 6.

Hosted by the German Disability Sports Federation and the German Judo Federation, the Championship is set to be held during an International Training Camp scheduled to run from February 5 until 9.

Interested parties are requested to contact [email protected], with entries set to close on January 2.

The annual Thessaloniki International Blind Football Tournament has been brought forward to May, in order for some of the countries who had qualified for Rio 2016 the opportunity to test their teams in the top-level event in Greece.

Competition is set to be held from May 3 to 9, with IBSA claiming a number of countries have already confirmed their involvement.

Judokas will have the opportunity to hone their abilities at the 2016 Open German Judo Championships
Judokas will have the opportunity to hone their abilities at the 2016 Open German Judo Championships ©IBSA

Run simultaneously,  the second edition of the IBSA Challenge Cup is also set to take place in Thessaloniki, with the event hoping to build on a successful first staging in 2014 at Prague, Czech Republic.

The Challenge Cup is designed to boost emerging blind football countries in Europe with a maximum of six teams scheduled to compete in the tournament, which is run as part of the UEFA-funded IBSA Blind Football Development Project Europe.

The Spanish Federation of Sports for the Blind are set to stage an invitational goalball tournament from June 24 to 26, with competition set to be held at Villaviciosa de Odón near the country’s capital Madrid.

Entry is set to be €300 (£219/$328) per person, with the fee including accommodation and full board from dinner, as well as transport to and from the airport.

Prospective entrants have been requested to contact [email protected].



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