Having enjoyed the sunshine, it was time to get down to business in Cancun today as the draw for the first bouts and plans for the event were laid out to all of the 78 national teams. 

During the team manager meeting IFMA president Dr Sakchye Tapsuwan welcomed the managers from each country, and wished all of the athletes the best of luck in the tournament. In all between athletes, delegates and officials almost one thousand people fill the beachside resort for the world championships.

General secretary Stephan Fox also welcomed the teams. He talked about the now-traditional Open Forum coming up this week  – when IFMA’s plans for 2018 and 2019 will be explained to the athletes. The list of up-coming events will be given to them so they can start planning.

Technical delegate Dmitry Putilin discussed the daily programme for each day, leading up to the finals on the 19th for men and women. On the 17th there will be no bouts with the athletes going to Tulum historical site and entertainment.

The meeting then moved to the all-important draw where the athletes were set into their competition divisions. This is done online and closely supervised by the technical team comprising international referees and judges.

For the first time at an IFMA World Championships the draw and daily results will be available live online via the IFMA-Rsportz partnership.

This concluded the serious part of the day with the evening given over to the Opening Ceremony.