ALBANIAN SUCCESS

The junior wrestling team of Azerbaijan, one of the most respected teams in Azerbaijan, once again demonstrated a decent performance at a continental championship. 14 medals earned at the European Junior Championship in Tirana, Albania confirmed the previous successes of young wrestlers.

Worthy result

At the continental tournament on Greco-Roman wrestling, the national team ranked second in the team standings with 118 points, winning 1 gold and 5 bronze medals: Turan Dashdamirov (45kg) and Elnar Ziyadov (48kg) received gold medals, Ali Seyidalili (51kg), Aykhan Javadov (55kg), Elmin Aliyev (80kg) and Mahir Gurbanly (110kg) received bronze medals. Among female wrestlers, only Ruzanna Mammadova (57kg, silver) was successful.

So the result of classical wrestlers was generally good. Azerbaijani athletes competed on equal terms in most weight categories and showed a character. We can specifically mention Turan Dashdamirov, who showed good technique and speed in all fights. Bronze medals of Aykhan Javadov and Elmin Aliyev can also be considered an achievement, as both fighters showed stable competition.

Azerbaijan's freestyle wrestling team also achieved a high result at the European Championship, ranking the second in team standings with 155 points and first in the number of medals. They have lived up the expectations of their coaches with 4 gold and 3 bronze medals. Our new European champions are Jafar Jafarov (45kg), Haji Kerimov (55kg), Jamal Abbasov (60kg) and Yusif Dursunov (110kg). Jeyhun Alizade (51kg), Mirzaagha Akhundov (65kg) and Ismayil Rahimli (71kg) settled for third place. Four gold medals in one team is naturally a product of hard training and proper selection of athletes.

Tribute to the fallen

After a brilliant achievement at the European Junior Championship, coaches have perhaps even more responsibility for the future performance of their athletes. It's no secret that after some success as teenagers, many athletes break the regime and no longer take training seriously. As a result, a number of promising teenager athletes, unfortunately, end their sporting careers very early. Therefore, the coaching staff must keep a special focus on the transition of young wrestlers to the youth team.

Askerkhan Novruzov, head coach of Azerbaijan's freestyle wrestling team, said the responsibility of both coaching staff and wrestlers increases after the continental championships: "We dedicate our success at the European Championship to all our fallen brothers, including Mubariz Ibrahimov. Our champions Haji Kerimov and Yusif Dursunov competed against Armenian wrestlers right on the day of Mubariz's death. But we are far from resting on our laurels. We have to train even harder to be ready for future competitions.

Last year we returned from the European Championship with six gold medals and became champions in team standings. This cannot be repeated every time. This time Russian and Belarusian athletes also joined the competition. But our guys showed their spirit and won seven medals. Although in the team event we ranked the second, 4 of 10 gold medals went to the Azerbaijani athletes."

First place only

Novruzov added that the next target is first place at the World Cup in Türkiye: "Now we are going to prepare for the World Cup. There will probably be changes in the line-up. Because there were weak wrestlers in some weight categories, although each of them is a champion of Azerbaijan. Again, we will try. At the world championship we will try at least to repeat our previous result and become the first in the team rating. We have been continental champions 3-4 times, but never been able to repeat the same achievement at world cups. Thanks to the good shape of our guys we can hope to become world champions in Istanbul this year."

Haji Kerimov (55kg), gold medallist of the European U-17 Championship in Tirana, intends to repeat his success at the World Cup as well: "I made it to the final at the European Championship by defeating my opponents from Türkiye, Russia and France, respectively. In the final bout, I defeated an Armenian wrestler. I dedicate my victory to our fallen brothers."

Jamal Abbasov (60kg), who finished best in Europe for the second time, also said he had serious plans for the Istanbul World Championship: "Last year I became a European champion in Bucharest. I repeated my success in Tirana. This year we are well prepared. I want to say my word at the World Cup as well".

Wrestling teams have a really busy calendar this year. Athletes have already started preparations for the upcoming world championship in Türkiye. It is possible that there can be some changes in the teams ahead of the prestigious competition.