AZERBAIJAN CONQUERS EUROPE

The Baku European championship in wrestling has gone down in history of Azerbaijani sports as a landmark event as representatives of the country's Sport Number One have proved their skill to the world yet again.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is also the president of the National Olympic Committee, attended the opening ceremony held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Center. Beautiful folk dances and the enchanting performance of Mugham by Alim Qasimov made the ceremony truly unforgettable.

Free-style wrestlers were the first out of 450 athletes representing 37 countries to appear on the mats. Mahmud Maqomedov, who represented the Azerbaijan national team in the fly-weight category for the first time, left no chances for his German opponent Marcel Ewald. By winning both periods 2:0, he demonstrated the seriousness of his intentions for the whole tournament. In the quarterfinal Maqomedov was up against Moldovan Aleksandr Chirtoacha, who started the competition from the second round. The Azerbaijani athlete took the initiative into his own hands from the very beginning and confidently won the fight. In the semifinal against Romania's Andrey Dukov, Maqomedov was behind in the beginning, but managed to equalize in the dying minutes of the period. The Romanian athlete won the second period and the winner was to be named after a third. And it was Maqomedov who advanced to the final. In the last fight of this weight category against Radoslav Velikov, Maqomedov crushed his opponent - 7:0 in the first and 4:1 in the second periods, thus earning Azerbaijan the first medal in the European championship. 

In the 66-kg weight category, Azerbaijan's Cabrail Hasanov justified expectations as well. On the way to the final he beat James Roberts (UK), Vladimir Gocia (Moldova) and Genrik Soberail (Poland). In the final fixture he encountered world champion Magometmurat Gachiyev from Russia. The first period was to Cabrail 1:0, while his Russian opponent won the second 3:0. Everything was to be decided in the third period, and by showing remarkable tenacity Cabrail proved the better side and rose to the top of the victory podium.  

The winning streak of Azerbaijani wrestlers could have been continued by Sarif Sarifov (84 kg), but after beating three opponents and reaching the final, he lost at the hands of Russia's Anzor Urishev, thus earning a silver medal.

The gold medalist of the previous European championship, Chamsulvara Chamsulvarayev (74 kg), could not repeat his successes either, after being defeated in the semifinal. By beating Georg Hart from Germany in the bronze match, he finished only third. European champion Khetag Gazyumov (96 kg) has proved for the second time that he is indeed one of the strongest athletes by beating Georgi Gogshelidze from Georgia in the final. Thus, Azerbaijani free-style wrestlers won three gold, one silver and one bronze medals. 

The winning baton was passed on to the women's team, which brought two more gold medals. By beating all her opponents in the 59-kg weight category, Sona Ahmadli, who is experiencing a remarkable surge in her career, has won gold. In the final, she beat Taybe Mustafa Yusenti from Bulgaria 4:0. The second gold was won for Azerbaijan by Nadezhda Sementsova (67 kg), who confidently beat Katerina Burmistrova in the final. 

Azerbaijan could have won more medals, but two-times European champion and champion of the world Mariya Stadmik, as well as Yuliya Radkevich, who are both on maternity leave, did not take part in the competition.    

Azerbaijan's Greco-Roman wrestlers also paid off public expectations. Prior to the championship, the public was looking forward to two-times world and Olympic champion Farid Mansurov finally winning European gold as well, but these expectations were not to come true this time again. Although in his fight with a Spanish opponent he was four points ahead, he received a double jaw fracture. Despite that, he decided to carry on wrestling. Overcoming pain, he won his next fixture too, much to the jubilation of the home crowd. But doctors had to stop his performance when he reached quarterfinal. This was quite a shock for his fans who chanted "Farid is the champion!" for their courageous hero. But Farid did not hear the ovation as he was being rushed to hospital. Now, following surgery, he is expected to resume training in no sooner than five months, which automatically rules him out of the September world championship in Moscow.  

Despite this loss, our Greco-Roman wrestling team won two gold medals and one silver. In the 55-kg weight category Elcin Aliyev cruised past three opponents to reach the final where he was up against Russia's Nazir Mankiyev. The latter had beaten Azerbaijan's Rovsan Bayramov in the Beijing Olympics final. After winning the both periods against the Olympic champion, our young athlete became the European champion, as if paying back for his fellow countryman's defeat in the Olympic final. 

In the 60-kg weight bracket, victory was celebrated by Hasan Aliyev. After replacing Vitaliy Rahimov in the national team, the young wrestler beat Ukraine's Konstrantin Balichkin in the final. Elvin Mursaliyev (74 kg) could have become champion too, but lost the final match against Aleksandr Kikinov from Belarus. 

The European championship clearly demonstrated the power of Azerbaijan's wrestling school, which has long traditions in the country. Azerbaijani athletes put up stiff resistance to their main opponents from Russia and in many cases proved even better. By winning seven gold, two silver and one bronze medals, the Azerbaijan national team finished second among teams with a total of 50 points. Russia was the best, while Bulgaria finished third.

Azerbaijani wrestlers continue following the tradition of working hard and finishing among the best. This has been noticed by Azerbaijani Olympic Committee President Ilham Aliyev, who personally received the sportsmen to congratulate them on the outstanding performance. He also enquired about Farid Mansurov's condition, and said that more victories were to follow. The 2010 London Olympic Games are expected to become the biggest competition for the national team.