Champion of Champions kicks off today

The two-day International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) Champion ofChampions will be held today and tomorrow at the Qatar FoundationRecreation Centre and Al Shaqab arena, with the sport’s best athletescompeting at the season-ending event.A strong field is guaranteed as only the top 18 men’s and women’sathletes are invited to compete. The women’s competitions will be heldtoday, while the men will be in action tomorrow.Qatar is hosting the event for the fourth consecutive year. This is thefirst time the Qatar Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon Federation willorganise the event after both the bodies merged earlier this year. The action takes places in a single day, which differs from the usualUIPM competition format when competitions are hold over several days. The event begins with a 200 metres freestyle swim. A round robin of epeefencing will then take place before the fencing bonus round, with showjumping following on a course with 12 obstacles. Champions will then becrowned after a combined shoot and run using a laser pistol.Last year, the Germans dominated the event with Patrick Dogue winningthe title, while Annika Schleu emerged as the women’s winner. The 24-year-old Dogue had held off the challenge of world championValentin Belaud to triumph in 2016. This time he will face stiffcompetition from Rio Olympics gold medallist and World No. 6 AlexsandrLesun of Russia. The 29-year-old Lesun has also won gold at the WorldChampionships in Rome (2012) and Warsaw (2014). Frenchman Belaud, who iscurrently ranked No. 9, will also be seeking his revenge from Dogue.Qatar will have no representation this year as Khalid al-Nuaimi, who hadparticipated in the last edition, is out with a shoulder injury. Meanwhile, Schleu will be missing in action this time from the women’sfield. The German had won the last two editions of the competition inDoha. It will be interesting to see who takes the top spot in Schleu’s absence. However, there is no dearth of high class athletes who will be in actiontoday. Last year’s Olympic Games silver medal Elodie Clouvel of Francewill be the one to watch out for.The 28-year-old, who also won silver at the 2016 Moscow WorldChampionships, will be up against Hungarian Tamara Alekszejev, who isranked four. World No. 10 Italian Alice Sotero is also a strongcontender.Competitor’s list Women: Bian Yufei; Elodie Clouvel; Joanna Parker Muir; Ronja Stelnborn;Alexandra Bettinelli; Janine Kohlmann; Tamara Alekszejev; Gloria Tocchi;Alice Sotero; Tomoyuki Ono; Shino Yamanaka; Lina Batuleviciute; AnnaPatrycja Maliszewska; Anna Buriak; Ekaterina Khuraskina; IsabellaIsaksen; Ana sophia Hernandez Cuellar; Kat Bridgid Coleman Lenehan. Men: Sergio Ali Villamayor; Luo Shuai; Valentin Belaud; Joseph Tzen ZhunChoong; Patrick Ibrahim Dogue; Marvin Faly Dogue; Riccardo de Luca;Daniele Colasanti; Taishu Sato; Pavel Ilyashenko; Vladislav Sukharev;Manuel padllla Lazcano; Szymon Piotr Staskiewicz; Jaroslaw TadeuszSwiderskil; Pieter Barend Francois Oosthulzen; Aleksandr LesunRevised Today’s ScheduleWomen* Swimming (QF Recreation Centre, 10am)* Fencing round-robin (QFRC, 11am)* Fencing bonus round (Al Shaqab, 1:45pm)* Riding competition (Al Shaqab, 3pm)* Running & Shooting Combined event (at Al Shaqab, 4:15 pm)* Award ceremony (Al Shaqab; 4.45pm).