END OF AN EIGHT-YEAR WAIT

The world boxing championship in Baku, which was also a licensing tournament, will be remembered for the successful performance of the Azerbaijani team. After earning one gold and one silver medal, the hosts of the championship ended an eight-year wait on the last day of the tournament - they gained a new world boxing champion.

The first representative of independent Azerbaijan to become a boxing world champion was Agasi Mammadov. He won gold in Thailand in 2003. For eight years, Agasi held the title of the first and only Azerbaijani world boxing champion. Our second boxer to win the world title, in October 2011, is Mahammadrasul Macidov.

Mahammadrasul became a favourite with the fans for his performances as a member of the Baku Fires. This was clearly no fluke. Macidov's victory in the final at last put an end to the heavyweight problem in the Azerbaijani team. It's worth nothing that none of Mahammadrasul's bouts in Baku even went to the end of the final round as he's become a nightmare for his opponents.

In the quarterfinals Macidov beat a fighter from Cuba, a country known as a forge of the strongest boxers, and continued his triumphal march. With a victory over Britain's Anthony Joshua in the final, the Azerbaijani boxer gained the greatest achievement in his career. Macidov was also named the strongest boxer in the Baku tournament.

The gold medal was presented to Mahammadrasul personally by the president of Azerbaijan and head of the National Olympic Committee, Ilham Aliyev. The presence of the president and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva among the fans was a great encouragement and psychological support for the Azerbaijani finalists in the tournament.

The second prize - the silver medal of the current world championship - was won by Teymur Mammadov for the Azerbaijani national team. This young athlete drew attention to himself earlier this year when he became European champion in his weight class. Teymur's ability and willingness to win were visible throughout the tournament. But luck abandoned him in the finals - the 19-year-old Azerbaijani boxer lost the decisive battle to the experienced Ukrainian, Aleksandr Usik. At the same time, the silver medal can be considered a pretty good result for the young European champion.

Azerbaijan's main hopes for Olympic medals in boxing rest with Mahammadrasul Macidov and Teymur Mammadov. A fair amount of optimism is also inspired by two other local athletes -

Heybatulla Hacialiyev (64 kg) and Elvin Mamiszada (52 kg), who, although they left without medals, did the minimum needed to earn places in London.

Of course, four Olympic places and two medals in the world championship can be rightly described as a successful outcome for the national team of Azerbaijan. But at the same time, we must not forget the weakest links - the five weight classes in which our boxers did not distinguish themselves. Several boxers performed below their capacity. For example, according to experts, 15-year-old Salman Alizada still suffers from a lack of experience though he became a European champion earlier this year. Salman looked psychologically unprepared for the championship. At the same time, the coaches regard the young athlete as promising and pin high hopes on him. There is less than one year to the Olympics, so Salman is unlikely to be able to gain enough experience during this time. Yet there is no replacement for him - Alizada is considered the strongest in the team in his weight class.

Our boxers still have chances of earning a place in London. But it is possible that the coaches will replace some of them.

Speaking of the Baku World Boxing Championship, it is worth noting the level of organization of the tournament. Guests said that the tournament was organized at the highest level, like previous prestigious international competitions. Moreover, Baku set an example of tolerance to the international community again, receiving at the appropriate level the team from Armenia, a country which has occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory. The Armenian athletes were provided with all the necessary conditions for a comfortable and safe stay in Baku. Despite this, they failed to win in the Azerbaijani ring and left the tournament before it ended.

The national team of Ukraine came first in the team performances, Azerbaijan came second and Cuba came third.

FIRSTHAND

"I'm satisfied with the performance of the guys. Mahammadrasul went down in history, and Teymur did perfectly well, too. It's just that he didn't have enough experience in the finals. We now have five places in the Olympics. The leadership of the federation aims to go to London with its full complement. Therefore, we should try to get five more places. Changes in the national team are possible, too. At the end of the year, the championship of Azerbaijan will be held, and the gold medal winners of this tournament will be given a chance to compete for Olympic places. Then we will begin to prepare for the Olympics. We have to prove that we are visiting London not as tourists, but for medals."

Yevgeniy Kotov, head coach of Azerbaijan's national boxing team