REFORMS IN WRESTLING

Poor results of Azerbaijani wrestlers at the World Championship held in Kazakhstan forced the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation to take serious measures. In particular, the federation initiated a set of reforms in the coaching staff of the national team.

Head coach of the Greco-Roman wrestling team Shaban Donat was replaced by a Russian specialist Alexander Tarakanov. The coaching staff will also include the winner of the Athens Olympics and the 2007 World Championship in Baku, six-time European champion Alexei Mishin. Rovshan Bayramov retained his post as a senior coach. Akif Aliyev will be one of the assistant coaches in the team, while Emin Ahmedov and Turaj Huseynli will continue their coaching career in the youth team.

Acting President of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation Namig Aliyev said that the main goal is to win the maximum possible number of licenses for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which is only nine months ahead, while the tournaments for licences will be held in March-April next year.

The new head coach of the team Alexander Tarakanov noted that he knows the Azerbaijani team very well. He mentioned the great potential of the team and expressed confidence in achieving the goals. In his interview, A. Tarakanov shared his first impressions of the team and told us about his plans.

"In 1993-94, I worked as an assistant coach in the Turkish national team. But it is my first time as a head coach outside of Russia. Azerbaijani team is a good team. The current generation continues the traditions of strong wrestlers of the Greco-Roman style brought up in the Soviet era, who transferred their skills to young generations. The only negative point is the lack of licenses for the Olympics. But the team has strong athletes and I think we can accomplish the mission. Based on my own observations, I can say that the athletes are in good physical condition and have a good experience. We need more training, which might be a reason for poor results at the last World Cup," Tarakanov said.

Now the team is going through a period of stress. After the championship of Azerbaijan, it is planned to hold training camps in Minsk. "We are negotiating with the head coach of the Russian national team on joint training. This is required to improve the skills of athletes. We plan the participation of all members of the national team in the championship of Azerbaijan scheduled for December," Tarakanov noted. The team composition, according to Tarakanov, will be formed based on the results of the competition.

Then, the team will begin preparations for the European Championship and licensed tournaments, which are extremely important for Azerbaijan. "If the guys continue training with the same zeal as they do now, they will win licenses. Competition is fierce but we can see good prospects for athletes in weight categories of 60, 87 and up to 130 kg," Tarakanov said.

Reforms will also cover other teams. The absence of the head coach of the free-style wrestling team, Saypulla Absaidov, at the World Championship meant his removal from office. The main candidate for the post of head coach of the Azerbaijan national freestyle wrestling team is Anvar Magomedgajiyev. Currently, the 63-year-old specialist works as a head coach of the youth team of Dagestan and a coach in one of the Russian teams. He is also a personal trainer for members of the Azerbaijani team Sharif Sharifov and Jamaleddin Magomedov. It is expected that his appointment to the Azerbaijani team will take place in the near future.

Although Magomedgajiyev has not yet confirmed this information, he does not exclude the likelihood of invitation. "You can get information from the federation. We had some negotiations. Since half of the national team is made up of legionnaires, they thought it was appropriate if I work with the team. If I agree, perhaps they will send me an official invitation. The decision will be made by the leadership," the Dagestani coach said.

Magomedgajiyev is confident that everyone would like to work with the Azerbaijani team. However, if invited to Azerbaijan, he will have to solve a number of issues. "Working with such a strong team is a dream of any coach. I do not know what I am going to do first, to be honest. It is an honour for me. One can achieve great success with such a team. If I get a formal offer, I can think of it. However, we need to address some issues. The Hamid Hamidov school in Makhachkala, where I work, has hundreds of young wrestlers. Two of my students became European and world champions this year. Leaving them will also be wrong. In addition, I have family problems. I am bringing up three daughters of my late brother. All these points need to be discussed and properly addressed. Let's see how it turns out," Anvar Magomedgajiyev said.

By the way, fourteen students of Anvar Magomedgajiyev have so far been part of the Azerbaijani national team. They were invited to the team before the 2007 World Cup held in Baku. Among the most successful ones were a European, Olympic and world champion Sharif Sharifov and one of the winners of the European and world championships Jamaleddin Magomedov.