CMTO, Nationals, & Team Canada Tryouts – All In One Tournament
Post by Sam Skinner, MTO VP of Communications & Team Canada Athlete
A huge opportunity for athletes is set to happen next month at the second annual Canadian Muay Thai Open (CMTO)! The tournament will be hosted in Kitchener, Ontario, next month, August 23rd-25th 2024, and is sanctioned by Muaythai Ontario.
In an unprecedented collaboration between CMTO and Muaythai Canada, some divisions have up to four rewards up for grabs.
1. CMTO Title Belts: All winners of A, B, and C-class divisions, Senior and Youth, will be awarded with a CMTO Title Belt. These belts are open to any athlete, both Canadian and international, who competes and wins their respective division.
2. Muaythai Canada National Tournament: The CMTO tournament will additionally incorporate the Muaythai Canada National Tournament. This is the first National Tournament since 2019! The Canadian that goes the farthest in each division will also win the honour of “National Tournament” champion.
What does this mean? If a Canadian wins the division, they will win both the CMTO Title as well as the National Tournament title. If an international athlete wins the division, the Canadian that places highest in the division will not win the CMTO title, but will win the National Tournament title.
3. Team Canada 2025 Qualifying Tournament: Canadians that go farthest in the highest class division of the tournament will additionally qualify to represent Team Canada in the 2025 IFMA World Championship Tournaments (Senior and Youth)!
This way, spots on Team Canada will be earned, and everyone in Canada has the opportunity to fight for the honour of representing Canada in 2025 international tournaments. All Canadians who want to represent Canada in 2025 must compete for their spot in this tournament.
How does this work?
As A-class is the highest level competitive division, top Canadians in A-class divisions will automatically qualify for Team Canada 2025. If there are no A-class athletes competing, and therefore no A-class division, top Canadians in B-class divisions will qualify for Team Canada 2025.
At the CMTO, U23 athletes compete with Senior athletes. However, IFMA separates athletes from 18-23 years old and 24+ years old. At CMTO, if there are multiple U23 candidate athletes in qualifying A-class/B-class divisions, they will be matched up together in the first draw, ensuring they will compete against each other and the highest-ranking U23 and Senior athletes will qualify for Team Canada.
Joining Team Canada is not mandatory for all high-ranking Canadian athletes, and athletes may refuse for any reason.
4. Muaythai Canada Title Belt Eligibility: Canadian winners of A-class divisions will also make that athlete eligible to compete for a Muaythai Canada Title Belt at a later date.
What could all this look like for a Canadian athlete?
All athletes in all divisions are competing, at a minimum, for both (1) a CMTO Title Belt, and (2) a Muaythai Canada National Tournament champion title. If a Canadian athlete wins their division, they walk away from the weekend with both! Even if a Canadian athlete does not win their CMTO division, they could nevertheless walk away as Muaythai Canada National Tournament champion if they are the top performing Canadian in their division.
Potentially, any Canadian winner of an A-class CMTO division could walk away from the weekend with all four rewards: (1) a CMTO Title Belt, (2) a Muaythai Canada National Tournament champion title, (3) a spot on Team Canada 2025 for the IFMA World Championship tournament, and (4) eligibility to compete for a Muaythai Canada Title Belt at a later event.
In A-class divisions, top performing Senior and U23 athletes will qualify for Team Canada.
If there is no A-class division for a given age/gender/weight division, top performing Canadians of B-class divisions could walk away from the weekend with (1) a CMTO Title Belt, (2) a Muaythai Canada National Tournament champion title, and (3) a spot on Team Canada 2025 for the IFMA World Championship tournament.
Final notes:
Muaythai Ontario’s main priority is to facilitate and sanction safe competitive opportunities for athletes, coaches, and officials, so that we can develop the sport of Muay Thai on provincial, national, and international levels. MTO is honoured to sanction this tournament that will give participating athletes the opportunity to compete for so many different awards and privileges.
Gratitude is shared with CMTO organizers: Kru Darryl Marin and Team Canada athlete Stephanie Goode, both of Kitchener’s own Darkside Muay Thai. Gratitude is also shared with Muaythai Canada President Kru Alin Halmagean.
For more Information:
Tournament website: https://www.thecanadianmuaythaiopen.com/
View live divisions & registered athletes: https://smoothcomp.com/en/event/15251
Follow CMTO’s Instagram for updates: https://www.instagram.com/canadianmuaythaiopen/
