ONE FULL POINT FOR THE TEAM

Azerbaijan's team was an absolute failure in the World Judo Championship held in the Russian town of Chelyabinsk. Over the last 10 years the team has returned from the World Championship with at least one medal. But this time, the team headed by Haci Haciahmadov returned home with empty hands. After returning from last year's World Championship in Rio de Janeiro with one gold and one bronze medal, the Azerbaijani judokas did not do at all well in Russia. The national team's fiasco at the major competition of the year was a big blow to the image of Azerbaijani judo as a whole.

Among the team members the only one who distinguished himself among the others and displayed doggedness and persistence was Rustam Orucev. In spite of a rib injury, the sportsman, who was entered in the 73-kg category, fought right to the end, won six bouts, including an encounter with the world and European champion; in the final count he failed to get a medal, taking seventh place in the competition. Ilqar Muskiyev (60 kg) and Elmar Qasimov (100 kg), in whom great hopes had been placed, only had one bout. The fact that the sportsmen were out of such a prestigious tournament after the first bout, testifies to the fact that they were not properly prepared for the championship.

Last year's World Champion, Elxan Mammadov (100 kg) was not able to give a repeat performance. After achieving the greatest success of his career, winning the gold medal at the World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Mammadov's  performance in Chelya-binsk showed that he had stopped training. In principle, we should not have expected success from a sportsman who had not taken part in any training sessions or tournaments after his historic victory in Brazil. While his fellow judokas were training for the Championship, E. Mammadov went on a long holiday. But you see, you cannot be physically fit, quick on your feet and striking blows after a one- to two- month break. You have to train for years to become World Champion. In order to defend your title, you have to spend most of the day in the gym…

People are also bewildered by the fact that a team that was not full strength participated in the World Championship. The Azerbaijani team did not have members in all the four weight categories at the World Championship, which not only means that there was a lack of competition in the team, but also an absence of strong sportsmen capable of performing at such a prestigious competition. The true problem of the undermanned team that went to Chelyabinsk is discipline. It is common knowledge that a sportsman who takes a holiday after a big victory does not return to his former peak of fitness for a long time. The change of main coach undoubtedly affected the team's result as well. After occupying this post for only four months, Haciaga Haciahmadov could notachieve a breakthrough in such a short time, so he cannot really be blamed for the failure. On the other hand, if the experienced judokas were not sufficiently ready to take part in such a prestigious competition, then there was no need to take them there. For they would only lose, as was demonstrated by the current championship. It would have been more correct to give the members of the junior team a chance to show what they could do; they would at least have gained experience in taking part in such a prestigious tournament.

Another problem with the national team is the lack ofnew names in it for a long time now. For many years now we have seen the same old faces in the team. After a series of defeats, they manage to achieve just one success, so we immediately forget about the poor performance of this sportsman. Moreover, at the Azerbaijan Judo Federation they put this unsuccessful performance down to injuries. "We never expected such a result from our team. For more than 10 years now we have won medals at all the World Championships. There were times when we only came back with one medal, but we have never been left without any award. 

It is always hard to talk about failure. Most of our sportsmen have suffered injuries. Some did not take part in the competition for that reason. The main coach Haciaga Haciahmadov cannot be blamed. It was impossible for him to put a new team together in such a short time. The Federation is seriously looking into the team's failure. The team's poor performance will bediscussed in the near future and a training schedule will be drawn up so that something like this does not happen again. Judo is very popular in Azerbaijan. We have always had strong sportsmen. I hope that we will very soon manage to put right the situation that has taken shape in the team," the vice president of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation, Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli commented to Regionplus regarding the results of the World Championship. 

The Federation does not have all that much time to resolve the problems plaguing the national team. The first European Olympic Games in history is to take place in Baku next year, the programme of which includes judo competitions. We would like to witness our sportsmen winning at the games. Therefore it is inevitable that some changes will have to be made. Sportsmen who do not observe the discipline and do not justify the hopes placed in them need to be excluded from the team and replaced by young sportsmen. In the next few months these young sportsmen should take part in coaching and training sessions, as well as in several international tournaments.This is the only way that we will be able to return to our former strength and the glory of our national team. We shall not forget that our national team had champions like Nazim Huseynov and Elnur Mammadli in it.