AZERBAIJAN'S NATIONAL ANTHEM WAS PLAYED IN YEREVAN

It took the Azerbaijani judoka Elmar Qasimov (100 kg) just 21 seconds to win the gold medal in the final of the European Youth Championship in Yerevan.

Elmar Qasimov put a spectacular full stop in the performance of the Azerbaijani national team at the European youth championship. After winning the gold medal of the contest, our judoka did not just become its winner - thanks to Elmar's victory, the Azerbaijani anthem was played in Armenia. So this success can be called historic.

Before his departure Qasimov admitted that he already felt that he would beat his rivals in Yerevan, stand on the podium and listen to the anthem of Azerbaijan, reports azerisport.com. His hopes became a reality, and the judoka's fight proved once again that he is ripe to perform at the adult level. Elmar swept like a whirlwind, beating his rivals with ippon. In all five fights, he did not allow his rivals to score a single point, displaying an aggressive, bright and complex struggle. So the tournament eliminated all doubts as to who will be the winner of Euro-2009 in the weight category of up to 100 kg.

It should be noted that Elmar's rival in the final - Czech Lukas Krpalek - holds all conceivable titles at the youth level. He has become the winner of World and European championships, so the decisive fight portended a difficult struggle. However, with his recent performance at the adult world championship in Rotterdam, where he took fifth place, Elmar proved that he was not scared of the titles of his rivals. No wonder the website of the European Judo Union (EJU) drew attention to Elmar, issuing him an advance for the future.

In short, the national judo team's trip to Yerevan was a success. It's no joke, all five athletes who arrived in Armenia returned home with medals - Elmar Qasimov (100 kg) won gold, Ilgar Mushkiyev (55 kg) came second, and Rasim Asadullayev (60 kg), Fagan Eminoglu (66 kg) and Ramin Qurbanov (81 kg) all came third.