THE DOUGHTY FOUR

Azerbaijan's taekwondo team will set off for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with the maximum possible squad. Four athletes will be representing the country at the Olympics for the first time.

Azerbaijan achieved this right at the European Olympic qualifying tournament in Turkey. Patimat Abakarova (49kg), Farida Azizova (67kg) and Milad Beigi Harchegani (80kg) won Olympic licences after reaching the tournament final in Istanbul. Before that, World and European champion Radiq Isayev ensured his ticket because of his ratings points.

According to the rules of the International Taekwondo Federation, each country may be represented at the Olympics by a maximum of four athletes (2 men and 2 women). Farida Azizova (67kg), with convincing victories over Petra Matijasevic from Macedonia (4-1), Tatyana Teterevyat-nikova (Ukraine) (3-0) and Franka Anic (Slovenia) (1-0), reached the final and qualified to take part in the summer Olympics. Then, in the main bout, she overcame Rabia Gulec from Germany (1-0), thus winning the tournament.

Another Azerbaijani taekwondo fighter, Patimat Abakarova, also repeated her colleague's success. On the way to the final she beat Dina Pouryounes-Langeroudi, representing the World Taekwondo Federation, (4-1), then Joanna Kotsu from Greece (5-1) and also overcame the Ukrainian, Irina Romaldanova (3-1) in the semi-final. A hard-won victory over the Serbian, Tijanu Bogdanovic, in the final (6-5) brought our girl the title of tournament winner. Milad Beigi Harchegani won gold in the tournament without too much difficulty. On the way to the final he trounced the Latvian Janus Kaunen (16-0), the Armenian Arman Yeremyan (11-1) and the Turk Yunus Sari (10-1). Harchegani was completely in charge of his final bout with the Pole, Piotr Pazinski, and it ended in a convincing victory by 14-2.

Our taekwondo fighters will be appearing at the Olympics for the fourth time. Two athletes each appeared on the mat in Athens (2004) and London (2012), and just one in Beijing (2008). That said, apart from the maximum participation of the taekwondo fighters, of special note is the tickets won by members of the fairer sex, which is a first. It is also worth mentioning that Farida Azizova will be competing for Olympic medals for the second time in her career. She who was the only Azerbaijani female taekwondo fighter to take part in the London Olympics.

Until now, Rasad Ahmadov, who is now vice-president of the Azerbaijani Taekwondo Federation, was the only one to appear in two Olympic Games.

The present squad gives hopes for Olympic medals, still to be won by our taekwondo fighters. Azerbaijan's successes in recent years have been increasing. For example, after a 14-year break, Radiq Isayev became world champion, Azerbaijan did well at the first European Games and the men's team won the World Cup in 2015. All this leads one to expect a successful showing by our taekwondo fighters at the Olympics in Rio.

In an interview for R+ Farida Azizova, who will be competing in an Olympics for the second time in her career, said that her main aim was a medal: "My aim was to qualify, and I am very pleased I managed to do that. I would love to perform on the first day of competition and I want to be the first winner. In that respect, I am an egoist. I admit that at the qualifying tournament in Baku for the London Olympics I was extremely anxious, and I had little experience. Despite this, I managed to qualify. But it was because of lack of experience that I lost in London with a difference of just one point. But now I am confident that everything will be quite different in Rio. I have no right to complain about my life. The Almighty has given me everything to be happy. Pleasing the fans through achieving success is an amazing feeling. My next objective is to come back from Rio with a medal."

Milad Beigi Harchegani, a winner at the first European Games, says he is going to the Games in Brazil hoping to become champion: "The last few years have been very successful for me. My colleagues and I in the squad have achieved a number of successes. After victory at the European Games, all I could think about, naturally, was a ticket to the Olympics. Now I have one. So I must now think about performing well in Rio. The top athletes will be competing there. The slightest mistake could ruin all hopes. So I must be prepared for any problems. If I can be champion in Brazil I would have fulfilled my greatest dream."

The Azerbaijani taekwondo fighters who won tickets for the summer Olympics in Brazil will be training according to a special programme. It is expected that prior to the Olympics they will test their paces in two tournaments, all under the special watch of the coaches.