Preview: Swedish Open Memory Championship

Posted on 06. Sep, 2009 by Idriz in Memory Championships, News

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History will be written in Gothenburg

The Battle of the Minds Concurs Sweden

The time has come for the memory sport to enter Sweden. On the 26^th of September history will be written when the 1^st Swedish Memory Championships, SMC, is organized at Universeum in Gothenburg. Since 2004 Sweden has been represented in competitions and had an unofficial Swedish memory champion. However this title has never been up for a match

One of the top three candidates for the Best Swedish Memory title is Idriz Zogaj, the currently highest ranked Swedish competitor who holds no less than 16 Swedish records. He has competed since 2004 and is also organizer of the event and ambassador for the memory sport in Sweden. Idriz has shown strong progress making it back in to the top 100 on the world ranking list during 2009. With two fourth positions in the two last competitions he has shown that his mental capacity is growing with time. The question is if it will peak on the SMC and can he withstand the pressure of being the favorite.

Other strong memory athletes however are beginning to emerge. Mattias Ribbing who has made a strong start becoming best beginner at the Cambridge Open in 2009 and current holder of two Swedish records is up for the challenge. The Joker of the SMC is Daniel Andersson who has never competed live but is starting to make very good progress in the online memory challenges. Daniel has set out for some other a bit odd Swedish memory records, reciting more than 10.000 digits of Pi while joggling.

Team Sweden at the UK Memory Open 2009 in London

Team Sweden (Mattias Ribbing & Idriz Zogaj) at the UK Memory Open 2009 in London

Little is known about the other Swedish memory athletes who has registered making their potential a maze of opportunities. The title Best Swedish Memory has at last come up for grabbing. The best memories will be there and may the best Swedish memory win!

The greatest of winner is however the sport of memory. The main purpose of the event is to show the sport to the broader Swedish audience. Showing what a trained memory is able of perform and hopefully inspiring others to take on this spectacular brain game giving Sweden a chance to make its impression on the world of memory sports.

The SMC is an Open, so we will also see some of the world’s greatest memories battle for the title best international competitor. There are competitors from Norway, Denmark, Austria, Great Brittan and Germany adding up to a strong start. The SMC takes place about six weeks before the World Memory Championships in November. So some of the candidates for the World Memory Championship title will come and show why they are worthy candidates. Rumors have it that we might see world record attempts, something that the organization is thrilled over.

Among the great we have Johannes Mallow (read the interview), current world record holder for Speed Numbers and Historic Dates. Johannes is 5^th on the world raking list and is one of the candidates for the WMC title. We also have the highly potential Dennis Müller (read the interview), ranked 22, who has made impressive attempts at memorizing a pack of card under 20 seconds in competitions. Who knows what will happen when this young competitor matures as a memory athlete.

Swedish athlete and championship organizer Idriz Zogaj and Memory-Sports.com author Florian Dellé

The competition will also see junior competitors. The youngest Swedish competitor will be Oliver Strand, 14 years of age. He will however enter the competition in English and is arriving from Denmark. The current World junior and German junior champion Dorothea Seitz (read the interview) will show that a young memory can also perform fantastic results. There will not be any junior event so they will have to enter with the seniors. We have how ever seen in the memory sports history that talented juniors can overrun even the best of competitors.

So with open arms we welcome you all to Gothenburg, Sweden and hope you will have a great and memorable time competing and pushing the limits of Swedish memory forward. History will be written in Gothenburg so welcome to be part of it.

With greatest of respect for the Swedish Memory Sports Council

Idriz Zogaj

For more information and continues updates visit

www.minnesforbundet.se

Update

Hi Memory friends!

All competitors must answer the questions below. It is important since it will be part of the press material for the event. A short answer is better than no answer at all!

Please send your answer, before 16th of September, in an email to info@minnesforbundet.se

A picture that presents you well.

Name

Age

Country

Current World ranking position (if you are ranked)

1.What is your favourite event?

2.What is your best position in a championship?

3.What inspired you to start memory sports?

4.(Non-Swedish competitors only!) What do you know about Sweden?

5.Your best memory tip for a non-competitor?

Sincerely

Idriz Zogaj