GAZYUMOV'S RETURN

The Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation (AGF) has introduced the long-awaited changes. Unsatisfactory performances at prestigious freestyle wrestling competitions eventually led to the replacement of the national team's head coach after 2.5 years in office. Ideas about a new coach emerged after the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. We highlighted the imminence of Abdullayev's early retirement last year. And the expected change in the main national team has finally been made.

The change of the national team head coach was officially announced at the last AGF meeting held in March. It was announced that Namig Abdullayev was leaving the post due to a heavy workload. He was a member of the AGF Executive Committee, was involved in the implementation of projects to develop the sport in the regions, and had a coordinating role in the promotion of freestyle wrestling in the country. Abdullayev is now replaced with Khetag Gazyumov, a former member of the national team, former world and European champion and three-time Olympic medallist in freestyle wrestling.

There have been changes in the women's national team as well. The head coach of the team will be the Russian expert Semyon Shterev, who previously worked with the freestyle and women's wrestling teams.

Prominent wrestler

The new head coach of the freestyle wrestling team, Khetag Gazyumov, is well known to sports fans. After being naturalised in 2007, Gazyumov has long defended the country's honour in all important international competitions. Over the years, he has won medals at three Olympic tournaments, become world champion and tripled the title of a European champion. Khetag Gazyumov is also widely known for his attitude to wrestling. He achieved results in competitions even when injured and displayed a strong will and perseverance.

Gazyumov, who finished his wrestling career in Azerbaijan in 2016, has been the head coach of the North Ossetian national team since. Always calling Azerbaijan his second homeland in his interviews, Gazyumov said that all his successes was due to the conditions created there. Now Gazyumov has a chance to work as a head coach of the national team.

His main goal will be to prepare the national team for the Paris Olympic Games slated for the next year. As always, he attaches great importance to physical training and demands iron discipline from the wrestlers.

The first test for the Azerbaijani wrestlers and Gazyumov will be the European Championship in April. But, of course, his performance will not be assessed by the results of this continental championship, as he was appointed only a few weeks ago. In September, the wrestlers will compete in a world licensing championship. Successful Azerbaijani athletes will qualify for the Paris Olympic Games. So it is the world championship that will show us the first results of the new head coach.

Licences for decision

One of the key problems of Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers is their weak physical performance. Usually, it manifests itself in the second bout. Making serious mistakes at prestigious competitions, our athletes remain literally a step away from a gold medal. Namig Abdullayev has been repeatedly given a chance to correct these weaknesses. But nothing changed, forcing the federation to take a drastic approach to the issue.  After the London 2012 Azerbaijani wrestlers stopped bringing gold medals from the Olympics. And it seriously worries fans of the sport. Therefore, the main task of Khetag Gazyumov is to win gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games after a long break.

The biggest sporting race on the planet is only 14 months away. It is unrealistic to carry out radical reforms during this period. The new head coach will not have enough time to make serious changes to the national team as well. Most likely, Gazyumov will rely mainly on the current squad.

But to be fair, we should also note that Namig Abdullayev's trainees have not had a chance to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games. After all, the licensing competitions in wrestling started only this year.

Preparations continue

We asked the most experienced member of the freestyle wrestling team, three-time world and European champion and two-time Olympic medallist Haji Aliyev to comment the change of the head coach. He confirmed that Abdullayev's departure was not unexpected: "We have known about the change since the beginning of the year. We expected it, but we didn't know exactly when it would happen. I don't think it should affect the team. Because my team members have always been under the control of specialists. We have already started training camps in Daghestan during Abdullayev's period. So the change of the head coach did not affect our trainings."

Haji Aliyev added that he has demonstrated good results under all his mentors: "I have been successful under Firdovsi Umudov, Saipulla Absaidov, Semyon Shterev and Namig Abdullayev. I am fine with changes. It is not only my opinion but also that of the president of our federation. I think, it will have a positive effect on the national team as well. One of Khetag Gazyumov's first tasks will be to train and educate athletes, to control everything. I think that's very important. After all, we have a lot of young athletes in our team. We are happy to train under his supervision. We have a good relationship from the very beginning. I have been in the national team for many years and at one time we were in the same team with him."

The European Wrestling Championship starts on April 17 in Croatia. Khetag Gazyumov included A. Rzazade, I. Velizade, A. Rahimzade, G. Aliyev, J. Hajiyev, S. Amiraslanov, A. Abakarov, O. Nurmagomedov, M. Magomedov and G. Meshvildishvili in the national team. This line-up will have to demonstrate their best over the three days of the competition.

The Greco-Roman team will be represented by E. Azizli, N. Mammadli, T. Mammadov, H. Jafarov, U. Ganizade, S. Suleymanov, R. Huseynov, I. Abbasov, A. Niftullayev and S. Shariati.

The women's wrestlers for Azerbaijan will be M. Stadnik, E. Mammadova, I. Semkiv, J. Aliyeva, A. Kolesnik, E. Manolova, B. Soltanova and N. Mirzazade.