COMPETITIVE CHOICE

The time left until the main global sporting event of 2016 is running out. The Summer Games in Rio will start as early as 5 August and the strongest athletes of the planet will vie for the right to be the best. 

Meanwhile some strong and titled sportsmen of Azerbaijan may fail to get through the selection process inside the team. In individual sports, only one athlete may represent one country in one weight category. This is why Azerbaijan may lose a few potential candidates for Olympic medals. 

This applies to wrestling in the first place. Virtually at every competition, Azerbaijani athletes win medals in wrestling which is regarded as a national sport. Azerbaijan has two strong wrestlers in the 97 kg weight category: Sarif Sarifov and Xetaq Qazyumov. S.Sarifov is a champion of the 2012 London Olympics and he has a gold medal from a world championship in his collection. X.Qazyumov won Olympic bronze medals on two occasions and is a world and European champion. Although X.Qazyumov has won his Olympics licence, it is still unknown which of the two will go to Rio. Licence is issued to the country and it is up to the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation to decide. 

In his interview to R+, Qazyumov, who is the captain of Azerbaijan's national free-style wrestling team, said that Sarifov is a very strong wrestler. "Once he wrestled in the 84 kg weight category but now he has moved to the 97 kg category. His height is the same as mine, 180 cm, which means that he complies with requirements. Coaches will decide who will go to Rio. There are a few tournaments ahead, we will take part in them individually and then I'll spar with him. The stronger one will go to the Games. Whichever of us goes there, the main goal is to win a gold medal for Azerbaijan". 

For his part, Sarifov said that the national team captain is a very experienced wrestler. "We still have a few months until the Games. Any athlete may get an injury. Xetaq is now healing his trauma. But it is very hard to be his opponent on the carpet. I respect Qazyumov very much but, unfortunately, there is no other way out: only one of us will go to the Olympics. I admit, I am eager to get to Rio. Perhaps we'll have our sparring in summer and the winner will get the right to represent Azerbaijan at the Olympics," Sarifov said. 

Although experts assess Sarifov's chances to be higher, experience is on Qazyumov's side. Rio 2016 will be the last Olympics for Xetaq who won two bronze medals at the Olympics in Beijing and London. From this point of view, he has huge experience enabling him to make problems for any opponent. Sarifov will be remembered for his steady performances in the past year. This is why their coaches will find it difficult to choose between these two wrestlers. 

Meanwhile, according to Firdovsi Umudov, the chief coach of Azerbaijan's national freestyle wrestling team, the athletes' titles will play no role in selecting the candidate. "It is hard to speak about a definite choice. A lot depends on how the athletes are prepared immediately before the Olympics to which the stronger and better trained wrestler will go. Titles are of no importance here. What matters is their physical fitness and work at training sessions. Maybe Xetaq and Sarif will face each other in a test match and the winner will secure a berth for Rio. They both have an important place in world wrestling but we must make our choice". 

A similar choice is expected in boxing. Vying for a berth in the 91 kg weight category are Abdulqadir Abdullayev and Teymur Mammadov. The latter is a European champion and bronze medal winner at the world championship and the London Games. 

Contesting in the 64 kg category are Lorenzo Sotomayor and Heybatulla Hacialiyev. Sotomayor won a gold medal at the First European Games. In Azerbaijan's championship, he also proved to be stronger than Hacialiyev in their one-on-one match, which prompts suggestions about the coaches' likely choice of candidate for the Olympics. There is also competition in the 56 kg weight category between world champion Cavid Calabiyev and First European Games prize winner Tayfur Aliyev. Although the coaches gave a chance to Tayfur Aliyev at the European Games, it is Calabiyev that will most probably go to the Olympics in Rio. 

Fewer licences for judokas are expected compared to the London Games but there is competition here as well. The Judo Federation, with its usual problems with heavy-weight athletes, has met with quite a challenge. Elxan Mammadov and Elmar Qasimov are contending for a berth in Rio in the 100 kg weight category. Mammadov is Azerbaijan's only world champion while Qasimov is a champion of Europe and a number of other tournaments. Both performed with success at recent competitions, so chief coach Peter Seisenbacher will have to make a difficult choice. 

If there was more time left before the Olympics, the problem could be settled. One of the athletes could move to another weight category by taking off 6 or 7 kg. But having only half a year before the start of the Olympics, it is impossible to do it because other categories also have their candidates for Olympic berths. Moreover, an athlete having changed weight needs a long adaptation period or otherwise the results may be rather deplorable. In this context, the federations need to make the right decision because the number of medals in Azerbaijan's collection may depend on it.