The first time Egypt organised a major modern pentathlon championship for juniors, it was the 23rd edition, in 1988. Twenty years later, Egypt is again doing the same. In this, the 43rd World Juniors Modern Pentathlon Championships at the Cairo Stadium complex, 129 athletes -- 70 males and 59 females -- representing 26 countries are taking part in the one- week competition. The competition is being held according to the regulations of the Union International of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) which insists the events are all held within the same venue. Cairo Stadium was therefore selected. Fencing and shooting will take place in the indoor complex, swimming in the swimming pool complex, equestrianship in the equestrian arena and running in the track surrounding the equestrian arena. The championship includes three competitions: the individual, team event and team relay for boys and girls. The tournament started on Monday with the women's semi- finals. The best 18 athletes qualified for the women's finals which was scheduled for yesterday. The men's semis were held on Tuesday. The men were divided into two groups of 35 each. The best 18 made it to the finals scheduled for today. The women's relay will take place tomorrow, while the men's relay will be held on Saturday. The modern pentathlon usually starts with the shooting, followed by fencing, swimming and riding. Running is the final discipline. National team technical director Merek Makay said Egypt will be represented by two teams for boys and girls. The boys are Yasser Hefni, Mahmoud El-Naggar and brothers Ibrahim and Mustafa Nofel. The girls are led by Egypt and World Cup champion , Yasmine Khaled, Reem El-Sayed and Gihan El-Medani. "They are all fit and ready," Makay said. "They will all take part in the individual events and the team event, and according to the results we will decide who will participate in the team relay." President of both the Egyptian and Arab Modern Pentathlon federations Ahmed Nasser said Egypt was lucky to hold three major world events this year. "We started the year with the first of the World Cup series which includes five different competitions. Now, we are hosting the world juniors and by the end of the month we will host the World Biathlon Championship which includes only swimming and the running events. "Being present in the tournaments develops the sport in the country, increases its popularity and gives a chance to our athletes to maintain their high technical level which is seeing much progress," Nasser added.
