SUCCESS IS NEVER FAR AWAY

The 40th European Boxing Championship held in Minsk was a real challenge for the Azerbaijani team. Due to the fact that it was the first major tournament in which the Azerbaijani team was headed by Vladimir Zolotarev, the result was very important. On the other hand, it was interesting to see in what form members of the national team were after the Summer Olympic Games in London. In the end, our boxers lived up to their expectations. The team of 10 boxers won four medals. Mahammadrasul Macidov (+91 kg) returned home as a champion, Teymur Mammadov (91 kg) took the silver medal, while Salman Alizada (49 kg) and Elvin Mamiszada (52 kg) won bronze medals.

At the initial stage, the national team lost two boxers - right at the start Elnur Suleymanov (75 kg) and Rauf Rahimov (81 kg) lost their fights and dropped out of the competition. However, the fact that eight boxers at once got into the quarter-finals inspired a fair amount of optimism. Four out of the eight made their way to the semifinals, and thus the minimum programme was accomplished.

Elvin Isayev (60 kg), Tamerlan Abdullayev (69 kg), Samir Mammadov (56 kg) and Heybatulla Hacialiyev (64 kg) failed to cope with their rivals. But Salman Alizada (49 kg) did not leave any chance for a boxer from Georgia. By putting his opponent in a difficult position with precise strikes, Salman won the first medal for the national team of Azerbaijan. However, he was unable to defend the champion's title he won two years ago in Antalya, losing to Irishman Patrick Barnes on his way to the final. Thus, Salman contented himself to the bronze medal.

In the final of Euro 2010 in Moscow, this Irish boxer beat Elvin Mamiszada in the weight category of 48 kg. The continental championship in Minsk was not quite successful for Elvin. The boxer who claimed the "gold" lost to the Walsh athlete Andrew Selby in the semifinals, contenting himself to third place. By the way, it was precisely Andrew Selby who became a European champion in the weight category of 52 kg.

Experts link Elvin Mamiszada's defeat in the semi-finals to referees' excessive sympathy to the boxer from Ireland. Although the Boxing Federation of Azerbaijan protested after the fight and demanded the revision of the result, the appeal was rejected.

The right to compete in the finals was won by two representatives of the Azerbaijani national team - bronze medallists of the London Olympics Teymur Mammadov (91 kg) and Mahammadrasul Macidov (+91 kg). In the semifinals, Teymur defeated Denis Poyatskiy, whom he knew very well from Baku Fires. However, he failed to defend his title in the final and lost to Russian Aleksey Yegorov. Having been injured in the first round, Teymur was clearly unable to fight at full strength. In the end, the referee stopped the fight and awarded the victory to the opponent.

Despite the fact that Teymur Mammadov was unable to defend his title like Salman Alizada, and this raises a number of questions (at the previous European Championship both won the "gold"), their results can be considered satisfactory. Though Alizada acts consistently, winning major competitions is difficult for him. At the same time, he fought the Irish boxer equally. As for Teymur Mammadov, the silver medal, too, is a good result for him. If it were not for the hand injury, he would have had enough chances to win in the final.

As for the gold medal winner of this championship, Mahammadrasul Maci-dov, he reached the finals without a fight. Macidov's rival in the semi-finals, Viktor Zuyev from Belarus, did not appear on the ring due to an injury. Having beaten Russian Sergey Kuzmin in a decisive fight, the Azerbaijani boxer finally realized his longtime dream to become a champion of the continent in the heaviest weight category. Macidov proved that he deserved this title by winning a difficult final of three rounds. At the same time, the luck factor also played a role in his reaching the final. According to the lots, Mahammadrasul joined the fight only from the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals, he was declared the winner without a fight. Therefore, his champion's title does not give grounds for reassurance.

At the end of the championship, the Azerbaijani team took fourth place in the team performances. The first three places were taken by Russia, Ireland and Ukraine. The total number of medals won by our boxers at the European championships since independence has reached 17 - 4 gold, 6 silver and 7 bronze medals.

Of course, four medals at the European Championships is a good indicator. But we must not forget that we have witnessed a number of shortcomings in terms of training athletes. First of all, we should note that some teams did not arrive at the continental championship with the best athletes. In other words, the World Cup scheduled for October of this year will be held on quite another level. The World Cup will involve all the countries of the world, and each party will fight for the gold medal until the very end.

Coaches need to think seriously about the defeats of Samir Mammadov and Heybatulla Hacialiyev. The performance of Samir Mammadov, who has not been remembered with any results in recent years, in the national team speaks for itself. Hacialiyev does not justify the hopes either. As for Tamerlan Abdullayev, the main reason for his defeat was inexperience. Abdullayev was included in the team sent to Minsk at the last moment, which is why his failures on the ring can be considered excusable.

It should be noted that the European Championship was rich in innovations in the rules. The continental championship will be remembered with a number of innovations. For example, in Minsk points earned by the boxers were declared at the end of each round. Points were counted like in professional boxing, and the winner was determined based on the points awarded by three referees.