SOFIA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 57th edition of "Dan Kolov -- Nikola Petrov", a key international wrestling tournament, will be held in Bulgaria from Feb. 28 to March 3, officials said here on Wednesday.
More than 530 athletes in freestyle, Greko-Roman style and women wrestling from 43 countries and regions including China will participate in the tournament, which will take place in the Danube city of Ruse, Hristo Marinov, President of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation said at a press conference.
This would be a record number of participants in the history of the tournament, Marinov said.
"Some of the most prominent wrestlers in the world are coming," he said.
The tournament would be "a small world championship", Marinov added.
Besides, the freestyle and women's events in the tournament this year belong to the United World Wrestling Ranking Series. This means that higher ranked athletes will have a more favorable draw in the Wrestling World Championships in September.
The World Championships in turn will serve as the first qualification event for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
