AMBITIOUS CANDIDATE

The second round qualifier for the Women's European Volleyball Championship to be held in Belgium and the Netherlands had an unexpectedly unsuccessful outcome for the Azerbaijani national team. When it became known that the team would have to vie in Pool D with players from Bulgaria, Greece and Portugal, many predicted its success in making it out of the group. However they failed to live up to the expectations. Nobody ever thought that the Portuguese team which had never starred throughout the history of volleyball could ever defeat the Azeri team. Later it took quite an effort for our players to beat the Bulgarians 3:1 in Sofia. Then hope glimmered for us again to take the lead in the pool and thereby instantly qualify for the final part of the European Championship. As you know, we had the benefit of home field advantage and fan support in the second cycle in Baku. The games with the Greek and Portugal teams turned out quite a success. As for the final match with the Bulgarian team, it brought to mind the fiasco at the latest European championship… 

Ultimately, by finishing second in the group qualifying stage, the Azeri team presented the Bulgarian team with a direct ticket to the European championship. To make their way to the Euro 2015 finals, Faiq Qarayev's team will now have to grapple with the Slovak national team. Our team's line-up fielded at recent international tournaments was not its best. Every time, some of our leading players are absent for different reasons. The latest matches were no exception. Valeriya Mammadova (Korotenko) and Odina Bayramova (Aliyeva) were left out of the team for various reasons. Their absence even aggravated the already hard ball reception situation. It is just errors in ball reception that brought about the defeat from the Portuguese team. Our helplessness in the face of the Bulgarians has the same roots… 

However playing not in its optimum line-up cannot be an excuse. It is hard to explain why the national team has been falling behind in recent years. The team used to achieve higher results before the national championship became so highly competitive as it is now. Although some may see the reason in having no restrictions on recruiting mercenaries. Still let us keep it in mind that the players currently playing for the national team are not bench warmers in their respective clubs and have enough playing practice. Neither should we rest content with the fact that the national team has won its pass to the world championship. It is necessary to urgently start eliminating mistakes. Because the Azeri team is going to vie against the continent's 11 strongest national teams at the 1st European Games to be held in Baku next year. 

As regards reforms, it is unclear why Yelena Parkhomenko is on the team. Being an experienced blocker, she has never turned up on the field during the qualifying matches. Why was a 32 year old player included on the line-up who had taken no chance to step on the pitch? Instead of her, it would have been more logical to include a young player at least to enable her to feel the atmosphere in the national team. 

European Volleyball Confederation President Andre Meyer was following the qualification games. He voiced his surprise at the Azeri team's performance: "The organization of the tournament is at the highest level. The Azerbaijani team did quite well. Your volleyball players are well prepared for the final stage. Excellent conditions for developing volleyball have been created in this country. I am very happy about it. Many expected that your team would win a ticket in Baku to the European Championship finals. You have a wonderful team. Just sometimes not everything turns out in sport. And its beauty is just in this. You should not give up. You have a chance to go to the finals of the European Championship if you win the final match next year. I am glad that Azerbaijan has a strong domestic championship. By playing in your championship, famous European volleyball players raise the level of this tournament".

According to A.Meyer, he is going to visit Baku frequently in the months to come because volleyball has been included in the programme of the First European Games: "The main purpose of my visit is to hold consultations on the European Games. Their holding is crucial both for Azerbaijan and Europe. Including volleyball in the Games programme will help to promote this sport and increase interest in it. We are familiarizing ourselves with the rules and conditions for the matches. We want everything to be at a high level. So I will be coming often to you." 

He said it was planned to arrange an international volleyball tournament as a test ahead of the European Games: "We are now holding discussions. It is very important to hold test competitions in beach and women's volleyball. Teams from several European countries are expected to take part in this tournament. I think that holding such a tournament is also very important for preventing problems at the European Games. We need to resolve technical issues."

In addition, Baku may host the 2017 Women's European Champi-onship. "Baku wants to organize the Women's European Championship in 2017. The Volleyball Federation of Azerbaijan has already announced this. We took that well because Baku has always been notable for its high level of tournament organization. Azerbai-jan intends to organize the championship of the continent in cooperation with Georgia. These two countries are the most ambitious candidates. I don't want to speak about the other candidates. Your rivals must be ready to fight with you. Your country copes excellently with the organization of competitions meeting the highest standards," Andre Meyer told R+. 

In his opinion, Baku has already turned into one of Europe's sporting capitals. According to him, Azerbaijan is able to hold any prestigious competition at the highest level: "When Baku voices its wish to hold some volleyball competition, we take it very quietly as are already professionals in this field."

It should be noted that there are two competitors to Azerbaijan's joint bid with Georgia for holding Euro 2017. The countries' names are being kept secret for the time being. Nonetheless, Baku's chances to hold the European Championship in 2017 are very high compared to the others.