THE TRIUMPH IN BUDAPEST

The capital of Hungary, Budapest, was in the focus of world judo. The World Judo Championship was the main competition of the season, which has brought together all the strongest judoka of the planet and has become a serious test for the leaders in every sense of the word. The national team of Azerbaijan, which has not been able to enjoy many medals in the previous two championships, was determined to be successful this time. The fact that our team had the Olympiad winners has also contributed to our hopes.

The World Cup in Budapest has justified the hopes of both the coaches and fans. For the first time in its history, the national team won four medals (two silver and two bronze medals) at the World Cup, a prestigious competition among the representatives of 127 countries.

On the first day of the competition, the winner was Orkhan Safarov (60 kg). On his way to the finals, Orkhan lost to a Japanese athlete Noahisa Takato. Although he started the final fight rather successfully, he later lost the initiative to the opponent, which affected the final result - Takato won the gold, and Orkhan had the silver medal. This result allowed Safarov to finally decide on his weight category. The judoka, who was thinking about stepping into a different weight category after the Rio-2016, was convinced that he could succeed in his own weight category as well. Yet this confirms that he will also compete in the usual 60 kg weight category at upcoming competitions.

European champion, silver medalist of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro Rustam Orujev (73 kg) also, for the first time in his career, was among the winners at the World Championships. Unfortunately, after reaching the final stage, Orujov tasted the bitterness of defeat. His path to the highest step of the pedestal was blocked by a Japanese judoka. Although in the final fight, the athletes fought on an equal footing, in extra time, Soichi Hashimoto decided the fate of the meeting in his favor.

Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) stopped at a step from a medal. The 20-year-old judoka, who became European champion three months ago, lost to the same Hashimoto in the semifinal, and failed to defeat Mongolian judoka Olbayar Ganbarat in the fight for the bronze medal. It is interesting that after his previous fights with the strongest athletes of Europe, Hidayat Heydarov failed to prove himself in the fight against Asian athletes.

Japanese judokas also stopped the further promotion of Elmar Gasimov (100 kg). In the quarterfinals, our athlete lost to the future winner of the World Cup, Japanese Aaron Wolf. And in the fight for the third place, the fans witnessed the duel of the two strong athletes from Azerbaijan - Elmar Gasimov and his teammate, world champion Elkhan Mammadov. Elmar, who lost to Mammadov at the European Championship in 2017 and at the Islamic Solidarity Games, was the winner this time and became the third strongest on the podium. Although Elkhan Mammadov finished the World Cup without a medal, he deserves the kindest words. The 36-year-old judoka proved that he would be the worthy member of the national team at the next World Championship to be held in Baku.

In competitions among women, the Azerbaijani team also won a medal after a long break. Although Irina Kindzerskaya (78 kg) lost to the Chinese Song Yu in the semi-finals, she performed well in the consolation round and became the bronze medalist in her weight category.

The success of the Azerbaijani national team is reflected in the ranking table of the International Judo Federation, compiled on the basis of the World Cup in Budapest. So, the majority of national athletes participating in this competition improved their rankings. The bronze medalist of the championship Irina Kindzerskaya (78 kg) advanced ten steps. With 2263 points, she settled on the 8th place. Being ahead of his four rivals, Orkhan Safarov rose to the second stage. Silver medalist Rustam Orujev (73 kg) also retained the second stage. Mammadali Mehdiyev (90 kg), who finished the World Cup in the 7th place, is ranked the 12th in the list. The bronze medalist Elmar Gasimov (100 kg) and his counterpart in the fight for the 3rd place Elkhan Mammadov took the 3rd and the 2nd places, respectively. Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg), Ushangi Kokauri (+100 kg) and Aisha Gurbanli (48 kg) retained their positions taking the 5th, 21st and 35th positions respectively.

In his interview with R +, silver medalist of the World Cup Rustam Orujev said that he realized the dream of his childhood: "I have dreamed of winning a medal at the World Championships since my childhood. The silver medal in Budapest made my dream come true. Of course, the gold would be better. Perhaps you will not believe, but on the night before the competition, I could not sleep. I was extremely excited. The strongest athletes of the world were in my group. All the winners came here, except for the future champion. Hence the excitement. All the fights to the finals were difficult. I prepared well, so I performed them at a high level. I was absolutely ready for the final meeting. But something went wrong. The trick made by my opponent in the end was controversial. Nevertheless, I do not think the wasari given by the referees after the second review was mistaken. The rules in judo have changed a lot. Now one needs to be extremely careful. On repetition, I was convinced that by awarding points for this trick, the referee was right. Although he could not do it. Therefore, I did not object. I am to blame myself for my defeat. "

The bronze medalist of the World Championship Elmar Gasimov also shared his impressions with us. He said that he dedicated this medal to his son: "Before coming to Hungary, I was thinking only of the gold medal. I wanted to become a world champion. But minor injuries did not allow to train in full before these competitions. I soon recovered and began to train only a month before the championship. I think a bronze medal is also a good result, although I could have done better. At the World Championships, all meetings are difficult. Elkhan is the world champion. He is a strong athlete. And he fought against me in full. It was a difficult fight. I have not been able to fight with him lately. Since I lost to him at the European Championships and the Islamic Solidarity Games, this time I was thinking only of winning him. The members of my family also came to the World Cup to support me. Some athletes perceive this negatively. I wanted to please them. It was nice to see the joy of my family members after winning the bronze medal. I thank the leadership of the federation and the coaches who make efforts for the sake of the team's success. The awards won by us belong to the people. I would like to devote this bronze medal to my son Adam. He was born on August 9th. It was my first competition after his birth. Therefore, I dedicate this medal to him."

The next World Championship will be held in 2018 in Baku. Therefore, the ceremony of transferring the flag of this prestigious competition to Azerbaijan was held in the capital of Hungary. The President of the International Judo Federation Marius Wieser expressed his gratitude to the host of the current championship, the Hungarian Federation of Judo. He later handed the flag to the representative of the organizer of the next championship - Vice-President of the Azerbaijani Judo Federation Sadig Sadigov. After the ceremony, a video presentation of the World Judo Championship to be held in Baku in September 2018 was demonstrated to the fans.