EUROPE THROWN ONTO ITS SHOULDERS

The European Wrestling Championship in Dortmund, Germany, brought more glory to Azerbaijani sport. Our exponents of one of the country's most popular sports again rose to the occasion, demonstrating the highest mastery.

Initially, it seemed a very difficult task to repeat the success gained at last year's European championship in Baku. However, Azerbaijan's wrestlers actually improved on last year's results.

First the freestyle wrestlers justified our hopes in the Dortmund championship. European and world champion Khetag Gazyumov opening the team's medals account in the 96 kg division.

The double European champion beat Spaniard Eder Villanueva and Ivan Jankovski of Belorussia; in the quarter-final, he defeated Edgar Yenokyan of Armenia and in the semi-final he threw down Moldavian Nikolay Chaban.

In the final, Khetag literally destroyed Russian Vladislav Baytsayev. In becoming a three-time European champion, Khetag Gazyumov matched the record of retired Namiq Abdullayev.

Mahmud Magomedov, on whom great hopes were pinned, rose to third place on the podium in the 55 kg division. After losing to Georgian Vladimir Khincagashvili in the semi-final, Magomedov parted with his dream of a gold medal. But in the fight for bronze, he was victorious over world silver medallist Gennadiy Tulbya of Montenegro.

Cabrayil Hasanov, who became European champion in Baku last year, proved again that in the 66 kg division he has no equal on the continent. On the way to the final, he overcame wrestlers from Moldova, Italy, Hungary and Germany. After beating Bulgarian Leonid Bazhanov in the final, Cabrayil became a double European champion in his division.

Sharif Sharifov (84 kg) and Camaladdin Magomedov (120 kg) took bronze medals at the championship. However, Adil Quliyev (74 kg) and Togrul Asgarov (60 kg) did not win medals. Thus, in the team competition, Azerbaijan's freestyle wrestlers were second to the Russian national team.

Two gold and three bronze medals from the European championship is quite a good result. However, the tournament also revealed a number of deficiencies. There is no way for Adil Quliyev to make a mark on the 74 kg division, and last year's world championship silver medallist Togrul Asgarov was not up to scratch in the 60 kg division. This will certainly give the coaches something to think about.

As always, Khetag Gazyumov deserves applause. The national team captain possesses all the qualities of a leader. We must also note Camaladdin Magomedov, who won a bronze medal at his first attempt.

Our women wrestlers were luckier. Exceeding last year's two gold medals, in Germany the national anthem of Azerbaijan was played in their honour three times. Nadezhda Sementsova (67 kg), Yulia Radkevich (59 kg) and Maria Stadnik (48 kg) became European champions. Particularly notable was Maria Stadnik's triumphant return to the arena after prolonged (one-and-a-half years) maternity leave.

She proved to be the strongest on the continent for the third time in her career. Thus hopes for a medal from the London Summer Olympic Games will focus on her. Maria's repeat of her previous success is a mark of the consistency of this sportswoman's performance.

After winning gold at the European championship, Yulia Radkevich, who did not appear at last year's championship in Baku, secured her place in the national team. Another member of the Azerbaijani team - Olesya Zamula -  won bronze in the 63 kg division, as a result of which our women wrestlers came second, on Ukraine's heels.

Headed by Farid Mansurov, the Greco-Roman wrestling team won one gold and four bronze medals at the Championship. Rafiq Huseynov, who defeated all his opponents in the 74 kg division to became European champion, gained the greatest success.

It is safe to say that Azerbaijan presented a new champion to the continent; with further intensive work he will achieve even greater success. The bronze medals for Shalva Gadabadze (96 kg) and Eldaniz Azizli (55 kg) were also valuable. Shalva is new to this division, and for Eldaniz this was his first big competition.

The bronze medals for Hasan Aliyev (60 kg) and Vitaliy Rahimov (66 kg) slightly disappointed their fans. From Hasan - the best athlete of last year, world and European champion - everyone expected a better result. Vitaliy's potential led to hopes of a gold medal. Both athletes simply must pull themselves together and obtain qualification for the World Championship Olympiad. In the team classification, Greco- Roman style wrestlers came second, behind Russia.

On the whole, the Azerbaijani team renewed its record at the European Wrestling Championship in Germany, winning 14 medals against last year's 11. Azerbaijan took first place both for the number of medals and the points collected - 135. Russia was next with just one point fewer - 6 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals; and 4 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals gave the Ukrainian team third place (98 points). Now the athletes have to take the most difficult test of the year - the world championship in Turkey. Fans are right to expect the maximum from their team and, correspondingly, tickets to London.