FIRST IN EUROPE

The European U23 Championship held in Bucharest, Romania was very successful for the Azerbaijani wrestling team. Our wrestlers once again demonstrated that they are the strongest team of the continent. Same as they did it last year.

Six gold medals

The national Greco-Roman wrestling team won four medals in the first days of the competition, actually showing a perfect result in the overall medal standings. Elmir Aliyev (60kg), Gurban Gurbanov (72kg) and Murad Ahmadiyev (97kg) won gold medals. Khasay Hasanli (77kg) came in second. Then Birgul Soltanova (65kg) won a silver medal, while Elnura Mammadova (55kg) and Jala Aliyeva (57kg) became bronze medallists in the women's wrestling competition.

Freestyle wrestlers also joined the competition in the final days of the championship. Magomed-Bashir Khaniev (70kg), Turan Bayramov (74kg) and Islam Ilyasov (97kg) beat all their opponents and became European champions. Silver and bronze medals were awarded to Rashid Babazade (65kg) and Sabuhi Amiraslanov (79kg), respectively. Thus, the Azerbaijani team won the first place in the overall standings and became the winner of the European U-23 Wrestling Championship for the second time in a row with a total of 140 points.

In terms of the overall rankings, Azerbaijan finished first in Europe with six gold, three silver and three bronze medals. Ukraine (5-5-5) is second and France (3-2-2) is third.

Without exaggeration, the performance of our wrestlers at continental championships can be called brilliant. Exactly half of the won medals were gold. Six gold medals in youth competitions raises the confidence in the future of the main national team. Being the strongest continental team for a second year in a row is a sign of consistency. And we can safely say that the coaches are working in the right direction, also attracting new names in the youth team. For example, Islam Ilyasov once again was awarded a gold medal at the European championship, proving that his success was not accidental.

Interestingly, last year there were major changes in the youth team. Most of the current wrestlers made their way to the national team, and new athletes were invited to the youth team. Therefore it was difficult to predict the success of the new team at the European Championships. However, the competition showed that the selection work was done correctly.

Incidentally, most of the successful wrestlers are from the districts of Azerbaijan. Wrestlers from Ganja, Khizi, Kurdamir shows that professional wrestler schools are functioning well in the districts. Gurban Gurbanov (Kurdamir), Murad Ahmadiyev (Balaken), Turan Bayramov (Ganja), Islam Ilyasov (Siyazan), Rashid Babazade (Masalli) and Sabuhi Amiraslanov (Gazakh) deserve special mention among medal-winning athletes.

The Olympics as a goal

The coach of the youth team, Emin Ahmadov, praised the team's success. "The results show that we are performing well. The team is made up of both youth and adults. This year we performed in full at the European U-23 Championship. We even improved on last year's achievement. Of course, we were expecting a better result. But anything can happen in sports. Sometimes a wrestler might not be in the best shape on the day of the competition, sometimes he can make certain mistakes. It's all possible. Every little thing plays a role. And we, coaches and wrestlers, have to take all these things into account and work on mistakes. Most athletes who excel in this age group become European and world champions even among adults. Therefore, we can expect the highest achievements from our wrestlers, who succeeded in the championship, also among adults".

One of the winners of the European championship, Turan Bayramov, told us about his main plans for 2023: "I am glad that we have achieved our target for the continental championships. But we also have other big goals. We should not relax and stop training, intensive preparation must continue. The World Senior Championship will start in a few months. I want to become a champion at the adults' mundial. This is one of the biggest goals of my career. Thanks to a successful performance, I will also be able to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris. I really want to take part in the Games in France."

Learning from mistakes

Silver medallist Khasay Hasanli admitted that he made a mistake in the decisive final meeting: "I came here to become a champion. I can't say I'm completely satisfied with my performance. I am not. Most of the competitors in the 77kg category are European and world medallists in different age groups. We know each other well. I won comfortably in the first three bouts. But I made mistakes in the finals. The fact that I was physically less fit than my opponent also played a role. I will have to work on my weaknesses. I'm going to work on a tighter schedule, build up my physical strength and try to do better in the future."

Azerbaijan's main Greco-Roman wrestling team had a training season in Croatia in February. Now the preparation for the forthcoming European Championship continues in Georgia. They are training together with the local team in Bakuriani at altitude of 1700 m above sea level. After two weeks of training the team will travel to Croatia to take part in the European Championship.