ANOTHER IPPON FROM ELNUR MAMMADLI

The World Masters tournament held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was a watershed for Azerbaijani judokas. The competition was quite important, as the winning athlete would receive 400 points to win a place in the Olympics in London.

The Azerbaijani national team led by Agayar Axundzada got off to a bad start in the tournament. Having lost at an early stage, Ilqar Muskiyev and Tarlan Karimov (both in the weight category of 60 kg) said goodbye to hopes for medals. Ilqar lost to Sofiane Milous from France in the first battle. Tarlan did not live up to expectations, losing to a former world champion. Elxan Mammadli also disappointed the fans, changing his third and fourth places in the world rankings to tenth place. In the weight category of 90 kg, Elxan beat the Uzbek athlete Khurshud Nabiyev in the first match. Unfortunately, our athlete was unable to build on this success, and after losing a fight to Tiago Camilo from Brazil, he eventually finished fifth. Last year Elxan won a gold medal at World Masters in Baku.

Azerbaijani female judokas were not remembered for anything either. Kifayat Qasimova (57 kg) and Ramila Yusubova (63 kg) failed to increase the number of their points. Kifayat lost the first match to Rafaela Silva from Brazil, while Ramila dropped out in the quarterfinals.

Elnur Mammadli was a comfort for the team again. The winner of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing was stronger than all the competitors in the weight class of 81 kg and rose to the highest step of the podium. In the absence of the world champion Kim Jae-Bum and Olympic medallist Leandro Guilheiro, Mammadli was considered the main favourite. Having won the first match with the host of the competition Islam Bozbayev on points, Elnur knocked Italy's Francesco Bruyere out of the fight. In the semifinals, he beat Euan Burton from the UK and reached the final, where the opponent of our countryman was Takahiro Nakai from Japan. Although Japan is the birthplace of judo, Elnur proved that he is one of the strongest in this sport. The Azerbaijani judoka won the tournament by overcoming his opponent and gaining an ippon. With this victory, Elnur gained 400 points and earned an additional 6,000 dollars. Thus, the Azerbaijani judoka retained third place in world rankings. According to azerisport.com, the victory in Kazakhstan was very useful for Mammadli, because only 200 of the 400 points gained at World Masters in Baku were left. And they were replaced by safe points, and what's more, Elnur reduced the margin with the leaders of the weight class. The Azerbaijani anthem is played in honour of the Olympic champion for the second consecutive time at World Masters. For the first time it happened last year in Baku.

It is regrettable that only Elnur managed to win a medal in the team. Of course, it is quite pleasing that the national team leader is always on top. But the failure of our other athletes is unclear, and very sad. As for the Olympic champion, he is already set to participate in the Games in London. In April, the International Federation will announce this formally.

FIRSTHAND

"Had our athletes not made a number of gross errors, the number of medals would have been greater. We must work on our mistakes. There is very little time to the Olympics, so there is very serious work ahead of us. Elnur Mammadli had his say in the national team once again. He literally demonstrated that he is better than anyone. Elnur Mammadli is one of the strongest athletes in the world today. Despite this, he must work hard to improve his physical performance to be fully ready for the Olympics. Tactically, I am pleased with him, but he needs to further strengthen his endurance."

Agayar Axundzada, chief coach of the Azerbaijani national judo team