FROM KAZAN WITH 16 MEDALS

The 27th World Universiade held in the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan, was remembered by the tense struggle and interesting moments. In the traditional competition, which was attended by representatives from more than 150 countries, Azerbaijan was represented by 75 athletes. As a result of the 10-day struggle, our athletes won 4 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze medals. As always, this time we distinguished ourselves in traditional sports - the Azerbaijani team achieved success in wrestling, track and field athletics and weightlifting.

Greco-Roman wrestling

A phenomenal victory in the finals was gained by the classic wrestler Rasul Cumayev. Having reached the final after several wins in a row, the representative of Azerbaijan pinned the Olympic champion from Russia to the mat.

Two Azerbaijani wrestlers lived up to our expectations: Kamran Mammadov won a silver in the weight class of 60 kg and Eldaniz Azizli won a bronze medal in the weight class of 55 kg. Elvin Mursaliyev, Fuad Aliyev, Araz Hasanov and Abbas Abdullayev terminated their performances prematurely.

Freestyle wrestling

More medals were expected from the "freestyle" wrestlers. But they had to content themselves with only two. Cabrayil Hasanov (74 kg) won a silver medal and Haci Aliyev won a bronze medal in the weight class of 60 kg. But the medals cannot be considered a great achievement for these athletes. As a participant in the Summer Olympic Games in London, Cabrayil Hasanov has lots of experience. The athlete, who lost to a Cuban wrestler at the last Olympics literally a step away from the bronze medal, was expected to win only a gold at the Universiade. But the annoying mistake made in the final dashed all hopes.

It is frustrating that Yasar Aliyev, Agahuseyn Mustafayev, Aleksandr Gostiyev, Haci Saripov and Camaladdin Mahammadov were left without medals at the Universiade. The coaches are required to analyze the errors and give their opinions about the performance of the athletes in the coming days.

Women's wrestling

Seven Azerbaijani sportswomen competed at the Universiade, and three of them returned to Baku with medals. Performing in the weight category of 59 kg, Yulia Ratkevich ascended to the highest step of the podium, easily defeating all rivals.

Once again, young Patimat Bagomedova had her say in the category of 48 kg. Losing only in the finals, she won the "silver". A bronze medal in the weight class of 63 kg was won by Irina Netreba. Angela Dorogan, Yarina Dubovska, Natalya Palamarchuk and Gezal Zutova were left without medals.

Belt wrestling

Ulviya Karimova won a silver medal, which was the only one in this sport. Eldaniz Aliyev, Suleyman Babayev, Tapdiq Karimli, Vasif Safarbayov, Gulsaodat Karimova and other Azerbaijani athletes failed to seriously compete with rivals.

Weightlifting

Having won a gold in the weight class of 69 kg, Firudin Quliyev confirmed that it is not in vain that he is considered a promising athlete. Cristina Iovu also won a silver medal. Yuliy Derkach, Alena Kriyenko, Tatyana Varlamova, Yuriy Dudolgo, Nicat Rahimov, Elxan Aliqulizada, Nailxan Nabiyev and Aluda Managadze were left unrewarded.

The failure of Nicat Rahimov, who won a gold medal at the first Junior Olympics in Singapore and was considered the most promising candidate to the main national team, is surprising. His return from the Universiade without a medal should make the coaches think seriously. If Rahimov wants to be involved in the first team, he has to make everyone forget about the failure in Kazan at the upcoming competitions.

Track and field athletics

Haile Ibrahimov is one of those whom we expect to succeed in track and field athletics. Demonstrating the highest dedication in the sprint of 5,000 metres, he was ahead of his main rivals and won the gold medal for the Azerbaijani team.

Meanwhile, our runner Valeria Balyanina was not remembered by anything in the sprint of 100 metres.

Sambo

The bronze medal winners of the Universiade in the sport were Agasif Samadov (52 kg), Islam Qasimov (57 kg) and Emil Hasanov (68 kg). Farid Mikayilov, Zulfuqar Quliyev, Ziya Namazov, Abdullah Rasulov and Elsan Cafarli failed to reach the semifinals.

Judo

Mammadali Mehdiyev was remembered as the first Azerbaijani athlete, in whose honour the Azerbaijani flag was raised for the first time at the 27th Universiade. Having won a "bronze" in the category of 81 kg, Mammadali won Azerbaijan's only award in judo. "I came third at last year's World Cup competition held in Georgia. I came here only for victory. So far this is the biggest achievement in my career. My main goal is to take part in the 1st European Olympic Games in 2015 in Baku and win a gold medal there," Mammadali Mehdiyev said.

Our other wrestlers Vugar Sirinli, Tarlan Quliyev, Orxan Dunyamaliyev, Sahin Mammadov and Emil Tahirov lost their battles.

Boxing

In Kazan Azerbaijani boxers suffered a complete fiasco. Despite the fact that the team had a participant in the Olympic Games, as well as members of the main national team, we failed to win any medals.

The weak performance of the Azerbaijani boxers at the students' Olympics should be a wake-up call for the national team. If a member of the national team cannot win even a bronze medal at the Universiade, it means that he has little chance to succeed in major competitions.

Gymnasts, fencers and chess players also returned from Kazan with empty hands.

In general, winning 16 medals, the Azerbaijani team took 15th place among the 162 countries. The first three places went to Russia, North Korea and Japan. Turkey came 29th and neighbouring Armenia - 32nd.