LOOKING FOR NEW LEADERS

Taekwondo is one of the fastest developing sports in Azerbaijan. The national team achieved impressive international results in the last two Olympic cycles and its trophy cabinet includes world and European championship medals. Now the national team is concentrating on training for the World Cup Team Champion-ships which will take place in June in Baku. This competition should provide answers to the many questions about our fighters' prospects in their so far fruitless quest for Olympic victory.

Beyond doubt 

For all its obvious successes, our national team has not yet managed to be in the running for Olympic medals, although Azerbaijani taekwondists have competed in the Games twice. But every year it gets harder for them to defend their high ranking with the painful, but inevitable change in the generations. The sportsmen who won medals in recent years are gradually taking a back seat, because of injuries as well as age. Take Niyamatdin Pasayev (67 kg) who is the most successful taekwondist not only in Azerbaijan but in the former Soviet Union. The athlete won the world championship, twice won the continental championship and has appeared at two Olympics. All well and good. But he cannot shake off injuries. Niyamatdin has even thought of retiring but the team coaches do not think that he is finished in the sport just yet.

The taekwondo team certainly can't complain of a lack of training facilities as they have a luxurious centre, built on the initiative of the federation leadership. Teams from abroad that come to train in Azerbaijan call the complex "little Kukkiwon" after taekwondo's world famous headquarters, the Kukkiwon, in Korea. So all the conditions are right for the national team to get ready for the start of international competition and to hone their skills. Since the sport has Olympic status, competition is growing here every year. And a new generation of taekwondists is needed to maintain the current level. One of the brightest representatives of the new wave is Ilkin Sahbazov (67 kg) who has already won the European championship and is now setting himself new targets. The current national team combines youth and experience in Elnur Amanov (57 kg), Rasad Ahmadov (78 kg) and Tavakkul Bayramov (82 kg). Elnur Amanov is the oldest sportsman in the current team, which did not stop him winning the continental championship last year. Rasad is considered the most consistent athlete, although he did not do himself justice in Beijing.

Heading for the world cup

The federation is now immersed in preparations for the World Cup which is a special occasion in the international calendar. Team competitions always spark more interest, since there are wall to wall bouts. Everything does not depend on the outcome of one duel but on the performance of the whole team. Of course, a team with a consistently strong squad and consistently strong athletes in all the weight categories will have the best chance of success. And the hosts will have to work hard to put on a good performance on their home turf, as we have some problem categories which could do with reinforcements. And it won't be possible to reinforce them in just a couple of months. Moreover, our rivals will be a match for us - it's enough to consider the Korean squad who set the trends in world taekwondo.

While the sporting prospects are still uncertain, the opposite is the case for organizational issues. Azerbaijan has hosted the CIS Cup, a licensed tournament and has twice hosted the European youth championships so the federation has already got the knack of holding such tournaments. There's no doubt that the World Cup will be held at a high level, especially since the secretary general of the World Taekwondo Federation, Jin Suk Yang, has already paid an inspection visit here to assess Baku's readiness to host the competition. The visitor was satisfied with the progress of work and said that everything is proceeding according to the timetable. He was received by Youth and Sport Minister Azad Rahimov and told him that Azerbaijan is playing an important role in the international development of taekwondo. Yang also said that the country's position at the intersection of Europe and Asia will lend the competition a special flavour. The WTF secretary general said that according to statistics 10,000 people in Azerbaijan do taekwondo, which is quite a serious figure.

It is worth noting that the competition will be held according to the WTF's new rules. During a fight the competitors will wear a special electronic bib with sensors which will react to a blow from an opponent, deciding the bout's score. The system was piloted at the world youth championships and after some modifications was finally put into action. Azerbaijani fighters have already tried the system at some tournaments and the federation has acquired a batch of the electronic bibs.

First stop holland

The prospects for taekwondo's future inclusion in the Olympics remain shrouded in uncertainty and the question will be decided this year at the International Olympic Committee's congress in Copen-hagen. Incidentally, this city will host the world championship in the autumn which Baku was hoping to hold. The Olympic programme will be discussed with London 2012 and 2016 in mind. The first vice president of the national federation, Fizuli Musayev, thinks that taekwondo has quite a strong position in the Games. "The last world championship and Olympics show-ed that this sport is developing rapidly. Look at the world championship results - the winners included sportsmen from Mali, Iraq, Afghanistan and Croatia, countries where until recently taekwondo was not well developed. However, the situation has now changed radically and I think that our sport will continue to feature in the Olympic programme. At any rate, there is no reason for concern."

Taekwondo is arguably the only sport in which representatives of our national federation have high-ranking posts in international structures too. Kamaladdin Heydarov is vice president of the WTF, while Fizuli Musayev heads the European Taekwondo Union's refereeing committee. Fizuli Musayev suggests deciding on the referees for a match by drawing lots just before an encounter. "This procedure would not take up much time, as the computer can 'throw up' teams of referees for different bouts. I think that in this case the objectivity of referees would greatly increase and the main referee would not be able to appoint 'his people' to individual matches." Taekwondo as a whole is not short of new ideas. Another is the suggestion that the system of rounds be cancelled and a whole bout be held for five minutes. 

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani team has decided on its training schedule for the current season, which did have to be changed. Initially, the team had been invited to compete in the February Trelleborg Open tournament in Sweden, but the coaches decided to concentrate on the Grand Prix in Holland which will be held closer to the end of March. In recent years the ETU has worked intensively to increase the number of prestigious competitions. And the tournament in Holland is one such competition - the leading athletes usually compete here so the competition provides a real test. Decisions on the condition of candidates for the national team and their future prospects will be taken on the basis of the results of this tournament. Of course, the Grand Prix in Eindhoven will be a major stage in training for the World Cup which promises to be a significant competition this season. And there's not long to go now, just three months which will fly by.