ELUSIVE VICTORIES

The Serbian city of Zrenjanin hosted the U-23 European Wrestling Championships. The continental tournament was marked by 16 medals won by Azerbaijani athletes, including three gold, seven silver and six bronze medals in total.

Candidates for the national team

The European Under-23 Wrestling Championships are a significant opportunity for evaluating potential candidates for the senior national team. It is evident that all countries consider this continental championship in this category to be of great importance. Our freestyle wrestlers, who travelled to Serbia with a strong squad, reached the finals in five weight categories. Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani representative, Ali Tsokaev (92 kg), was only successful in one instance.

Tsokaev, who competed in the 79 kg category two years ago, demonstrated a high performance in Serbia. However, his current weight does not meet the required standards for the Olympic Games. Therefore, the wrestler's prospects of competing in the quadrennial's premier event appear somewhat uncertain. In the coming months, he will need to move up to the 86 or 97 kg category. Tsokaev will have the opportunity to compete at the Olympics in Los Angeles if he can secure a place.

With regard to the defeat of the four freestyle wrestlers who reached the final, the coaching staff must carefully analyse the athletes' mistakes in the decisive bouts.

The women's team's performance at the European Championships can be considered satisfactory. Günay Gurbanova's (59 kg) gold medal win, achieved by successfully completing all her bouts, demonstrates her consistent form and psychological confidence. The 18-year-old athlete, who last year became European champion in both the U-23 and U-20 team events, confirmed in Serbia that she is currently the strongest.

Unfortunately, Ruzanna Mammadova (62 kg) was once again unsuccessful in the final. It is evident that she does not compete at full strength in the decisive bout.

In the Greco-Roman wrestling event, the sole gold medal was awarded to 19-year-old Elmin Aliyev, who competed in the 82 kg category. His victory was not anticipated by the coaches. Elmin's gold medal, despite not being considered a favourite prior to the championship, serves as a clear statement of intent for future competitions. However, it should be noted that his weight did not meet the required standards for the Olympic Games.

A downward trend

It is interesting to note that since 2023, at the last four U-23 European Championships, the Azerbaijani team has been losing momentum with each successive event. Following the success of Azerbaijani Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 2022, where they secured seven gold medals, there has been a decline in performance.

For instance, 'Bucharest 2023' resulted in six gold medals. A year later, at the European Championships in Baku, the number decreased to five. In 2025, Tirana saw only four gold medals, and now in Zrenjanin, the figure has fallen to just three. Furthermore, of the three gold medals awarded at this year's European Championships, one was won by the wrestler Ali Tsokaev, who is based abroad. Furthermore, it should be noted that these victories were achieved in non-Olympic weight categories, which may somewhat diminish their perceived significance, given the lower level of competition in these categories.

Coach: "Our young athletes have great potential."

The U-23 European Championships have been held since 2015. The most successful years for Azerbaijan in terms of gold medals were 2022 and 2023, when the country achieved seven and six first-place finishes, respectively. This was not an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate decision coinciding with the period when Russian athletes were barred from participating in the competitions. In 2024, Russian wrestlers returned to the tournaments under a neutral status, and from this year onwards they have been competing under their own flag and anthem. In Zrenjanin, Russia's team demonstrated clear dominance, securing an impressive 11 out of the 30 gold medals available, thus establishing itself as the tournament's most successful team.

There is cause for concern regarding the poor performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the long-standing absence of gold medals in Olympic weight categories at the World Championships for seniors.

Nevertheless, Nureddin Rajabov, head coach of the Azerbaijan Greco-Roman wrestling team, considers the results achieved at the U-23 European Championships to be satisfactory: "Personally, I was pleased with the outcome of the competition. Despite the athletes' best efforts, there is room for improvement in their performance. We did not bring our world champions and medallists from last year to this tournament. We decided to replace them with younger athletes."

Rajabov emphasises the significance of young athletes participating in such tournaments for acquiring experience: "The potential of our young athletes is high. Despite the challenges faced in the heavyweight categories, the wrestlers demonstrated remarkable resilience. The analysis conducted prior to the competition was found to be accurate by approximately 90%. However, some athletes, for whom higher expectations had been set, did not quite achieve the podium positions. Several of our wrestlers faced opponents who were older and more experienced than themselves. For instance, a young athlete with great potential, Aykhan Javadov (60 kg), was unable to secure the championship due to a lack of experience. He lost in the bronze medal match and finished fifth. This was his inaugural championship. Our objective is to facilitate the professional development of young athletes."