13 MEDALS, 16 LICENCES

Azerbaijani wrestlers honourably passed the first serious test of the year. During the European Championship held in Bucharest, the national anthem of Azerbaijan played four times. In general, our wrestlers climbed the medal stand of the continental championship 13 times, which is a considerable achievement.

Third place

The following members of the national wrestling team led by the head coach Saipullah Absaidov took part in the European Championship held in Romania: Mahir Amiraslanov (57 kg), Asker Mammadaliyev (61 kg) Haji Aliyev (65 kg), Aghahuseyn Mustafayev (70 kg), Hajimurad Hajiyev (74 kg), Jabrayil Hasanov (79 kg), Murad Suleymanov (86 kg), Sharif Sharifov (92 kg), Nurmagomed Hajiyev and Seyid Magomed Azershakib (125 kg). Georgi Edisherashvili (57 kg), Ahmednabi Gvarzatilov (61 kg) and Jamaladdin Magomedov (125 kg) could not attend the championship due to injuries.

Obviously, the confident performance of team leaders has a positive effect on the psychological state and general mood of all the others. Thus, Haji Aliyev, Jabrayil Hasanov and Sharif Sharifov met the expectations completely. In fact, it was the third trophy of the continental championship for Haji and Sharif. It is worth also mentioning Aliyev’s triumphant return after last year’s knee injury, as well as Hasanov’s championship after eight years. Meanwhile, Sharif completed his collection of titles by becoming the first Azerbaijani wrestler, who has the titles of Olympic, world and European champion. In the final stage of the tournament, Aghahuseyn Mustafayev defeated two world champions, while Mahir Amiraslanov won the bronze medal by demonstrating an excellent wrestling technique. Perhaps Nurmagomed Hajiyev could have reached the finals, if it had not been his rival — the Olympic, world and European champion Abdulrasul Sadullayev. As a result, the Azerbaijani athlete became the third strongest athlete of the continent. Thus, with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals, our national team took the third place in the team competition (145 points).

Success of our girls

The women's wrestling team of Azerbaijan left for Romania without a captain - Maria Stadnik (50 kg) has not yet recovered after a surgery she had undergone at the beginning of the year. However, her absence did not discourage the students of Aslan Aghayev and Rovshan Umudov. Elis Manolova (65 kg) performed quite well as a replacing leader of the team. With a silver medal that she won last year in Kaspiysk, Elis became a European champion this time, which is the greatest achievement in her sports career. Initially, she made her way to the finals by paying back for her defeat in Kaspiysk to the world champion and two-time European champion Petra Olli. In the play-off, even the sympathies of judges for the local athlete could not stop Elis. Demonstrating unprecedented persistence and a true character of a fighter, Manolova took the lead in the final seconds and made the nnational anthem of Azerbaijan play for the fourth time. Elis's fellow team members Alyona Kolesnik (57 kg), Elmira Gambarova (59 kg) and Tatyana Omelchenko (62 kg) were awarded bronze medals of the tournament. Thus, the women's team of Azerbaijan was ranked the fourth strongest team of the continent with 71 points.

Three medals from "classic" athletes

Azerbaijani national team in Greco-Roman wrestling under the leadership of the head coach Shaban Donat included Eldaniz Azizli (55 kg), Murad Mammadov (60 kg), Kamran Mammadov (67 kg), Ulvi Ganizadeh (72 kg), Elvin Mursaliyev (77 kg), Rafig Huseynov (82 kg), Islam Abbasov (87 kg), Orkhan Nuriyev (97 kg) and Sabah Shariati (130 kg).

Obviously, the absence of the world champion Rasul Junayev and Karim Jafarov and Elman Mukhtarov (finalists of the last Azerbaijan championship in the weight category of 67 kg), who got injuries just before the championship, had a certain effect on team results. This year, the Azerbaijani "classic" wrestlers won three medals against last year's five. Eldaniz Azizli and Taleh Mammadov were awarded bronze medals, while Islam Abbasov, who reached the final stage of the tournament, won the silver medal losing in the decisive fight to the world and European champion, Olympic silver medalist, Ukrainian Yan Belenyuk. As a result, with 76 points, the Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestlers took the third place in the team classification.

By quantity and quality

In total, Azerbaijani wrestlers have 13 medals of the European Championship: 4 gold, 2 silver and 7 bronze medals. By the number of medals, Azerbaijan took the third place, and by their dignity - the fourth place, leaving behind only the teams of Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

By the way, the continental championship in Romania was also a stage to qualify for the licenses of the upcoming European Games in Minsk scheduled for June 2019. It was also noted for a larger number of athletes: 431 wrestlers in Kaspiysk last year against 515 athletes in Bucharest this year.

Remarkably, Azerbaijani wrestlers managed to earn the maximum number of licenses for the European Games. In Minsk, the country will be represented in 16 out of 18 weight categories.

Interestingly, the number of medals won by Azerbaijani wrestlers in European championships after Azerbaijan became independent reaches 136 (46 gold, 31 silver and 59 bronze medals). In other words, we are the eighth strongest wrestling country in Europe following only Russia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany, Sweden, Hungary and Ukraine.