WINNING WITH A TOP SCORE

The prestigious international tournament in the "Big Helmet" cycle held in Baku ended with a brilliant win for the Azerbaijani team. At the end of the three-day contest, the Azerbaijani team headed by Haciaga Haciahmadov won two gold and one silver medal, taking first place in the team score; Romania came in second place and Russia in third.   

On the first day of the competitions Azerbaijan was represented by 13 judokas.  But only Nicat Sixalizada justified the hopes placed in them. Competing in the 66-kg category, Nicat first won against the judoka from Kazakhstan and then he did not leave the Korean sportsmen with any hope of success. In the quarter final the judoka defeated the Georgian sportsman, and in the semi-final he beat the Slovenian judoka. In the final his victory over Great Britain's Colin Wolsey was clear-cut and he was awarded the gold medal. Having demonstrated superb skill, speed and technique in all the bouts, the Azerbaijani sportsman showed that he was in splendid form. It is hard to remember when Nicat performed so confidently the last time.

Twelve Azerbaijani judokas entered the fight on the second day of the competitions. Rustam Orucev, who fought in the 73-kg category became the hero of the day. After winning the draw in the first bout, he began the tournament with a victory over the judoka from Kosovo. Then, after winning sportsmen from France and Russia, in the semi-final he did not leave the finalist from the Summer Olympic Games in London, Miklos Ungvari any chances. Rustam only needed 35 seconds to cope with such a strong opponent. Winning the final from the Mongolian judoka, Orucev contributed a second gold medal to the team's collection.

On the last day of the tournament another 10 Azerbaijani judokas tested their strengths. Elmar Qasimov, performing in the heavy-weight category got to taste the joy of victory. Winning consecutively from the judokas from the USA, Israel and Portugal, in the finals Elmar fought a representative of Russia, Adlan Bisultanov. His rival battled on right to the very end and caused Elmar to make a mistake, which cost him the gold medal, so our judoka took the silver.

The medals that our sportsmen won have allowed them to improve their place in the world rating. In the ratings table of the International Judo Federation Rustam Orucev has retained the top place in the 73-kg category. Elmar Qasimov and Nicat Sixalizada occupy tenth places in their own weight categories. In spite of his young age, Orxan Safarov, in whom great hopes are being placed, occupies the sixth place in the 60-kg category.

The winner Nicat Sixalizada shared his impressions of the "Big Helmet" tournament with Regionplus: "In four of the five bouts held in the tournament I gained an early win. In the finals I got a hold on my rival. I had waited for that moment. I used my favourite move and won with a throw. This win is extremely important for me. Last year I was unable to take part in the competition because of injury. So, my main aim was to win. We have the Grand-Prix in Morocco and the European Games in Baku to look forward to. I'm dreaming of winning at the European Games in Baku. If we attain really good results there, we will be able to make this grandiose competition in our homeland even more splendid." 

Another winner in the tournament, Rustam Orucev, deserves separate mention. This judoka who has already achieved the third win at international tournaments in 2015 has become the team leader. This is what the winner of the Gran-Prix in [the Turkish city of] Samsun and Tbilisi had to say about his success in Baku: "After the draw I was already aware that I would have a tough fight ahead. But by winning I took my revenge on three rivals in a single day. The wins over the Frenchman [Florent] Urani, as well as over [the Hungarian] Ungvari and [Mongolian judoka] Sainjargalyn are of great importance to me. All three are considered among the strongest in my weight category. Now I am in good sports form. I shall try to avoid getting injured in the next few months, I want to achieve similar success at the European Games. The first European Games which are to take place in Baku are extremely important to our judokas. At the last Olympics our team did not win any medals. In this sense, if we were to win medals at the European Games, we might get the fans' admiration back."

There were failures as well as successes at the "Big Helmet" tournament. In order to test the young sportsmen, 35 Azerbaijani judokas were included on the list of participants. But only three won medals, and these were those who are regarded as experienced sportsmen. The performance of our female judokas was nothing to shout home about. Having lost in the early stages, they demonstrated a reluctance to compete in the main team.

In most weight categories the leaders were only a step away from winning a medal. The fact that Ramin Qurbanov, Tarlan Karimov and our only world champion, Elxan Mammadov, were not among the prize-winners cannot be regarded as a normal phenomenon.

Even the team's chief coach, Haciaga Haciahmadov, recognised that there had been mistakes and made the following comments on the judokas' performance in the tournament: "We are glad that we won three medals. Rustam Orucev and Nicat Sixalizada are in good form. Elmar Qasimov should have won the gold medal. Just a momentary mistake in the final led to his defeat. The four wins with top marks that Rustam and Nicat gained in five bouts, prove that the coaches have chosen the right tactics. As far as those of our sportsmen are concerned who did not win medals, I think it is a great pity about Elxan Mammadov. He fought well, but he was just unlucky. Competition in his weight category has become stronger. His rivals have prepared themselves particularly well for a bout with him. Ramin Qurbanov should at least have been able to get a bronze medal. We will work on the weak points. A small team is going to Morocco. After the Grand-Prix there, we shall focus totally on the European Games. It is our aim to perform successfully at the First European Games."