FROM GRAND PRIX TO GRAND SLAM

Azerbaijan's judokas have drawn a line under the winter season. It was a pretty busy start to the year - the first reserves tested their strength at the world cups in Tbilisi and Warsaw, while the team's leaders competed in the Grand Slam tournament in Paris and the Grand Prix in Hamburg and had two small training camps after these competitions. So it's time to take stock of things so far. 

Bronze lads

The reserves did not make much of an impression, although, to be fair, many of the judokas did not have much competitive experience. Despite the lack of success, they benefited from their appearances in Tbilisi and Warsaw, as they had an opportunity to fight foreign opponents. Unfortunately, the vast majority of athletes were knocked out in the early rounds of the competitions without showing their potential. Bearing in mind that under the International Federation's (IJF) new regulations only fighters who have lost in the quarter finals can compete for bronze medals, our sportsmen finished the contest before they'd hardly begun. There were some individual, localized success stories. For example, Turan Safquliyev (90 kg) won the first round of the world cup in Tbilisi and Samir Dadaszada (60 kg) reached the last eight in Warsaw, but of course this is not enough for a successful performance. On the subject of the reserves, the participation of Azerbaijani judokas in the world cup in Prague should also be mentioned although it gave us nothing to cheer about. The only bright spot was Xanim Huseynova who got through the qualifying round but could not get any further. The only female judoka able to compete at the highest levels today is Kifayat Qasimova (57 kg), three times a medallist in the European championships and an Olympic competitor. She's a long way off full fitness at the moment - she needs time to recover her form after injury.

As for the main team and those trying to break into it, the competitions in Paris and Hamburg can be considered a success, as they were competing not only for competition medals but for ratings too. In April the IJF will publish a new table of rankings that will be based only on results this year. The team at the Grand Prix in Hamburg enjoyed the most success, brining home two bronze medals, won by European 2008 championship finalist Elxan Mammadov (90 kg) and World Student Games winner Ramil Qasimov (66 kg). Both competitors in the Beijing Olympics also earned 80 points to be added to their tally. Our Olympic medallists - gold medallist Elnur Mammadli (73 kg) and bronze medallist Movlud Miraliyev (100 kg) will get competitive practice after the April European championship in Tbilisi. Movlud Miraliyev said in conversation that his current form is now much better than at the start of the year. "This is understandable as intensive training has begun and the training camps in France and Germany were very useful. They allowed us to get in shape ahead of the competitions. We've got a training camp in Zaqatala coming up where the French team will be going too. It will be interesting to spar against the French, who traditionally set the standard on the international stage," Movlud Miraliyev said. Assessing his potential opponents, the heavyweight said that the balance of forces in the 100 kg category had not changed much. "Yes, some new lads have emerged but the backbone remains the same. At any rate, judokas competed in Paris and Hamburg whom we have been fighting for many years in different competitions. We know each other's fighting style really well, so it is not easy to surprise them with something new," Movlud Miraliyev said.

His first competition this year will probably be the May Grand Slam tournament in Moscow. "It will be essential to pick up ranking points, as that's the only way to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London. The main tournament of the year will be the August world championship in Rotterdam which isn't all that far off. So there's no time to let up," the Beijing bronze medallist said.

Elnur mammadli on the sidelines

The Azerbaijani team's chief trainer, Agayar Axundzada, was satisfied with the Grand Prix results. The tournament gave the manager food for thought, as sportsmen from the first reserve did not do badly at all in Germany.

The manager said that he had been pleasantly surprised by Elmar Qasimov (100 kg) for whom the competition was his first test at adult level. Despite this, he did not lose his nerve and took fifth place. The winners were Cuban Oreidis Despaigne and Russian Magomed Magomedov. "Elmar put in a good performance; he fought very bravely. He was the real discovery of the tournament. His fifth place is worth a great deal, believe me," Agayar Axundzada said.

He also mentioned another rookie, Asim Qojayev (60 kg), who got through the first round and performed pretty well. Sarxan Ahmadov (66 kg) could not perform to his best because of an injury to his collarbone received last December at the Jigoro Kano Cup in Tokyo. "Sarxan fought well but we did not overload him at the training camps so that he hid not have a relapse. He still needs some time to make a full recovery," Agayar Axundzada said.

At the same time the trainer was surprised by the good result of Ramil Qasimov (66 kg) who came third. "After the Olympics the athlete did not have competition practice and had an operation too. But the tournament showed that Ramil is already not in bad shape. More important, he has toughened up and showed some good quality fighting in Hamburg," Agayar Axundzada said.

As for Elxan Mammadov (90 kg) who also won bronze, Axundzada highlighted his consistency at the start of the season: "At the Grand Slam tournament in Paris he was fifth, now Elxan has come third, giving his rating a real boost. The judoka won most bouts ahead of time which shows that he is in good competitive shape." He mentioned the specific character of the Grand Slam and Grand Prix tournaments where defeat in the quarter and semi finals leaves no chance of consolation rounds - the losers automatically come fifth and third respectively.

This month is a quiet one for competitions - the major tournaments are taking a break and the team's next major competition will be the April European championship in Tbilisi. It is quite likely that Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli will go to Georgia too but only as an interested observer. For future competitions Elnur intends to change his category and fight in the heavier weight, up to 81 kg. For now his victory at the 2008 Olympics allows him to maintain top spot in the IJF ratings, but in April he won't feature in the upper half of the ranking table. This table will take account only of performances this year while this season Elnur has yet to compete. However, the ranking will come with time and everything depends upon the status of the competition. For example, victory at the August world championship in Rotterdam will be worth five points so Elnur Mam-madli is training precisely for this tournament.

"Before the world championship Elnur needs to compete in some trial competitions especially if he moves up a weight category. A trial run is essential before a major tournament like the world championship - you cannot compete cold in Rotterdam. So he will definitely appear in some tournaments," Agayar Axundzada said. The team have big plans and carry the weight of big expectations. The squad were the best of the European teams at the Olympics, coming third overall. This high level must be maintained.