COULD DO BETTER

The Azerbaijani team won eight medals at the World Wrestling Championship which recently ended in Turkey. In the past, two gold, one silver and five bronze medals could have been regarded as a great success. Even today, eight medals and seven licences for the summer Olympic Games in London are not a bad result. But we must admit that the attention Azerbaijan pays to the development of this sport today suggests a slightly better result. Had some athletes, on whom high expectations were pinned, not performed below their capacity, Azerbaijani wrestlers could have returned from the fraternal country with different results.

At the same time, Rovsan Bayramov was the first of Farid Mansurov's proteges to achieve his goal. The silver medallist of the Beijing Olympics, who had not participated in important tournaments for a long time, supplemented his successful performance at the Golden Grand Prix with a victory in the World Championship. Defeating all his rivals in the 55 kg weight class, the two-time European champion became a world champion for the first time in his sporting career, and the anthem of Azerbaijan was played in his honour.

In the 84 kg weight class, Saman Tahmasibi earned a place in London, thereby strengthening his position in the national team. Unfortunately, other of Farid Mansurov's proteges disappointed the coach. Vitaliy Rahimov, Hasan Aliyev, Rafiq Huseynov and Shalva Gadabadze "distinguished themselves" by losing to the weakest opponents. The defeat of the world and European champion, Hasan Aliyev (60 kg), by a wrestler from Venezuela felt like a cold shower. The fact that Aliyev's rival was not one of the strongest is proven by the South American's defeat in the next bout. Apparently satisfied with a bronze medal at the final championship of the continent, Hasan failed to draw the necessary conclusions from his mistakes...

That Masud Hasimzada should have lost early on in the 120 kg weight class was expected. But the defeat of European champion Rafiq Huseynov (74 kg) to a wrestler from Croatia, a country which is not known for its great achievements in the sport, is simply inexplicable.

The Azerbaijani women's team, led by Rovsan Umudov, will be remembered for its inconsistent performance. Although Maria Stadnik (48 kg), Patimat Bagomedova (51 kg) and Sona Ahmadli (59 kg) rose to the podium, Yulia Radkevich (55 kg), Gozal Zutova (63 kg), Nadya Sementsova (67 kg) and Dina Ivanova (72 kg) did not do well and were left without a single medal.

It is worth noting that Maria Stadnik, who had just returned from maternity leave, smoothly made her way into the finals. Only in the final showdown with a Japanese wrestler, did she lose to her opponent. During the award ceremony, Maria could not hold back her tears. Unfortunately, her teammates did not display the same determination and will to win. The coaches should think hard about the poor performance of Yulia Radkevich and Nadya Sementsova.

The freestyle wrestlers also started off badly at the championship. Magomed Magomedov, Zalimxan Huseynov and Khetag Gazyumov did not contribute to the success of the Azerbaijani team. While the latter's defeat can be attributed to injury, the loss of his other colleagues indicates their low level of training. Only on the last day of the championship, were the Azerbaijani wrestlers able to show what they are really capable of. Sarif Sarifov's performance (84 kg) was surprising in a good sense. He did not lose even a half-time in any of the matches on the last day, which inspired his teammates. All three of our wrestlers who appeared on the mat on the last day of the championship - Cabrayil Hasanov, Asraf Aliyev and Camaladdin Magomedov - won bronze medals.

Overall, the performance of our freestyle wrestlers can be considered satisfactory. They reinforced the international reputation of Azerbaijani wrestlers and, to some extent, lived up to the expectations of the national federation. But the Greco-Roman wrestlers and women wrestlers must learn the lessons of their defeat. Athletes who claim leadership must meet their ambitions at the next three licensing tournaments.