VICTORY IN ROME

This year was the most successful year for Azerbaijani wrestlers. This season, both adult, youth and junior teams of Azerbaijan made it to the top of the podium in most competitions. This time it was the national wrestling team U20, which has demonstrated a brilliant performance at the European championship in Rome.

Three golds

Freestyle wrestlers won one gold and two bronze medals. Jabrayil Hajiyev became a champion in the >74kg category defeating all his opponents. Ramig Heybatov (61kg) and Sabuhi Amiraslanov (79kg) took the bronze medals. As a result, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers became the 6th best team among 30 countries, scoring 87 points in total in the team competition.

The Greco-Roman wrestling team led by Nuraddin Rajabov also lived up to the expectations at the continental championship. Five of nine wrestlers of the national team made it to the podium. Nihad Guluzade (55kg) and Lachin Veliyev (87kg) defeated all their opponents and became European champions. Gurban Gurbanov (72kg) came second, Nihad Mammadli (60kg) and Kanan Abdullazade (67kg) took the bronze medal.

Thus, the Greco-Roman team has 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. With 102 points, it ranked 4th in the team event among 32 countries. The Georgian team (141 points) moved up to the first place, Turkey (118) became the second, Ukraine (103) the third.

Showing a better result

Nuraddin Rajabov, head coach of the Greco-Roman wrestling team, expressed his satisfaction with the team's performance: "It was not bad. Seizing this opportunity, I would like to thank the federation's management for their attention and care. We've managed to achieve our best results in recent years. Number of medals and their values increase each year. This shows that we have a next generation of wrestlers growing. We will join the World Cup this August. We plan to make some adjustments in weight categories for this competition, because we were not satisfied with the performance of some wrestlers. We could become European champions in the team competition. I believe we will do better at the World Cup, both in number of medals and their values. After a week's rest we will start camp trainings.”

Nihad Guluzade: I will continue my victories

Young European champion Nihad Guluzade (55kg) believes he will continue his successful performance. "The coaches did work hard indeed. Thanks to everyone. I am also thankful to the federation's management. The training camp was organised at a high level. This victory is a great motivation for us. In the first bout, I defeated a wrestler from France (9:0). My bout with a Ukrainian wrestler was more difficult but I managed to defeat him. Then I beat my German opponent and reached the final stage of the competition, where I got the biggest advantage over the Romanian wrestler and won the title of the European champion. I believe I will continue to win. In August, we have two prestigious competitions. I will try to win a medal of the highest rank there, too.”

Success of the women's national team

Azerbaijani women wrestlers also demonstrated a brilliant performance in Rome winning 2 gold and 2 bronze medals. Elnura Mammadova (55kg), thanks to her steadfastness and skill, did not lose to any of her rivals and became a champion. The national anthem of Azerbaijan in Italy was also played after Birgul Soltanova's (>62kg) performance. She proved that she was the strongest athlete showing decent performance in all her bouts. Asmar Cankurtaran (50kg) and Marziya Sadigova (72kg) finished the continental championships with bronze medals. The women's wrestlers, with five medals, became the fourth best among 24 countries in the team standings.

European champion Elnura Mammadova us that she was very happy about her success: "I believe I can achieve better results in other competitions too. I would like to thank our federation's management. Our coach believed in me even when I doubted my success. I thank my family. Our last training camp was in Astara, in Olympic Sports Complex everything was organised at high level. In the beginning of August, the Islamic Solidarity Games will be held. If possible, we will also take part in the World Cup after that event. I will try my best there as well".

Birgul Soltanova, the gold medalist of the continental championship, says that she has tried hard to win: "There is no limit to my joy. Thank you to our President, the management of our federation, the coaches, my personal coach and everyone who supports me. We have prepared very well for the European championship. We had trainned at the camp in the Astara Olympic Sports Complex. We also had some training in Turkey. In 2019, I won a bronze medal in Italy at the European U-17 Championship. This year I succeeded again in Italy and have already won the European U-20 Championship. Our victory is due to hard training".

The current continental championship also started with a record result for the Azerbaijani wrestling community. For the first time at such championships in this age group, the Greco-Roman team scored 102 points. Their previous highest result was 99 points (Dortmund-2021). This is the best result of our wrestlers in the last six years, with a total of 5 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze medals.