POOR PERFORMANCE

Azerbaijan's national judo team finished their performance at the world championship in Tashkent with two medals only. The national team represented in Uzbekistan with 11 judokas returned to Baku with just two bronze medals from Hidayat Heydarov (under 73kg) and Zelim Kotsoyev (under 100kg).

The performance of the Azerbaijani athletes at the world championship was not satisfactory. The failure of experienced judokas of the national team to reach the final stage of the tournament raises many questions.

Continued failures

The participation of the Azerbaijani women's team in the Tashkent tournament was more of a touristic nature. Leyla Aliyeva (48kg) and Gultaj Mammadaliyeva (52kg) left the race in the early stages. In the light weight categories we have no judokas now who can compete on the international arena.

Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani men's team did not show any worthy resistance in Tashkent either. Karamat Huseynov (60kg) failed to get a medal of the prestigious competition for the second time. Meanwhile, coaches had great expectations for him. The athlete showed that he was not ready for the tournament after he defeated in the first bout. Although his opponent, Yeldos Smetov (Kazakhstan) finished the tournament with two awards, it is difficult to justify Karamat's defeat. None of the opponents is weak at world championships. Since Karamat failed to gain advantage in the main time of the bout, he left the championship after the defeat to his opponent in extra time (golden score).

Yashar Najafov (66kg) failed to surprise his fans and show high level performance. The performance of world and European champion Orkhan Safarov (66kg) requires a separate analysis. The experienced athlete had to suspend his participation in 1/8 finals, as his tour to Uzbekistan consisted of two bouts only. Safarov started from the second round, in which he defeated the Swiss judoka Freddy Wesinger, but lost in the 1/8 finals to Bogdan Yadov (Ukraine) and dropped out. In the final year of his career Safarov failed to get a respectable result at this prestigious competition.

The under-73kg category has always been the mainstay of Azerbaijani judo. Elnur Mammadli won the Beijing Summer Olympics in the same category. He was prize-winner of world and European championships. Unfortunately, he has no worthy successor. Rustam Orujev, world champion and Olympic medallist (up to 73kg), lost to a Brazilian judoka in his first bout and also ruined his hopes. Rustam was not allowed to compete for the bronze medal as his opponent lost in the next round. As a result, the titled athlete returned home without any medals.

In this weight category Hidayat Heydarov showed the highest result and received the bronze medal. Although he could get a medal of higher value, if he had not lost in the 1/4 finals to Manuel Lombardo (Italy). His heedlessness and underestimation of the opponent can be considered as the main reason for Heydarov's defeat.

World champion Saeed Mollai (81kg) from South Azerbaijan was recently invited to the national team. He also left the championship without medals and finished fifth. Mollai was unable to show good performance and adequate resistance. In the bout for the bronze medal, Saeed lost to Shamil Borchashvili of Austria, who was caught twice in the wazza-ari throw that was transformed into ippon. Something to think about. Mollai was considered to be an ambitious judoka claiming a gold medal, but the championship showed that he could not even claim a bronze medal.

As for Mammadali Mehdiyev (90kg), he showed even worse performance. His bout at the prestigious competition lasted just a few minutes, and it is difficult to adequately assess his performance anyway. Despite being a member of the national team for many years, Mehdiyev consistently fails to win a medal in major competitions. His athletic performance has been considered unsatisfactory on most occasions.

On the last day of the Tashkent championship, Zelim Kotsoyev could please his fans by bringing his team a medal. Kotsoyev was not considered a contender for awards, but showed a very descent performance. He managed to defeat rivals from Switzerland, Kazakhstan and Portugal, but lost in the semi-final to Canadian Kyle Reyes. In the bout for the third place he defeated Tom Nikiforov (Belgium) and won a bronze medal.

Before going to Paris

It is no secret that Azerbaijan's national judo team enjoys excellent training conditions. The team is led by the experienced Dutch expert Mark van der Ham. The head coach of the men's team is Richard Trautmann, senior coaches are Mevlud Miraliyev, Elchin Ismayilov and Mehman Azizov, and senior analyst is Zaur Babayev. Despite such a large coaching staff, the final result is unsatisfactory. The upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Paris are less than two years away, but we can hardly expect any medals from this national team.

Richard Trautmann (Germany) is an international expert who was invited to coach the national team at the beginning of the year. He is better to report to the federation about the outcome of the championship, as the level of training raises many questions. Members of the national team did not perform well at the world championship. Perhaps Trautmann is teaching the athletes new tactics that they have not mastered yet. Apparently, Rustam Orujev and Orkhan Safarov, experienced judokas of the national team, are clearly living through the last years of their career. Their bouts do not look sparking any more. Hopefully, head coach Richard Trautmann is well aware of the problems in the team and can fix them.

The next major judo event is a Grand Slam international tournament to be held in Baku on November 4-6.