2024-04-29 22:54:11
The European Judo Championships begin today in Zagreb. It will become one of the most important stops for the Azerbaijani team on the way to the Olympics. Great expectations are associated with Croatia and our team is capable of even surpassing the result of last year’s EURO.
As İdman.biz reports, not much time has passed since the last continental championship: in November in Montpellier, our judokas won two gold medals through the efforts of Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelim Kotsoev (100 kg). Naturally, they are one of the main contenders for victory this time too. Hidayat already has four titles and can become champion for the third time in a row, setting a new bar for achievements.
The team will be represented in Zagreb by the strongest squad. In a number of categories, internal competition for the status of number one continues and the European Championship is a chance for many judokas. This idea was voiced by the executive vice-president of the federation, Rashad Rasullu, before the start of the competition. He noted that although the men’s team has secured licenses in almost all categories, the names of the Olympians will become known much later. This means that the result at the EURO can also play a role.
And Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli emphasized that the team can even surpass the result of last year’s European Championship, and in each weight there are athletes capable of solving high problems.
In general, the overwhelming majority of the composition turned out to be quite predictable. True, the team will not be represented in the heavy category, but there are some nuances here. They consist in the fact that each team can field no more than nine athletes in seven weights in both the men’s and women’s competitions. And the men’s team met the limit, and the absence of a super heavyweight in the application is due to the fact that two of our participants will fight in three categories at once. These are Balabey Agayev and Turan Bayramov (both 60 kg), Hidayat Heydarov and Rashid Mamedaliev (both 73 kg), Murad Fatiev and Eldzhan Gadzhiev (both 90). Moreover, according to the results of the draw, Agayev with Bayramov and Heydarov and Mamedaliev ended up in the same group. This means that a meeting between them is quite real.
Teams from 47 countries will perform in Zagreb. Eight of them declared the maximum number of participants. 18 athletes are delegated by the tatami owners, as well as the teams of Italy, France, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Spain, Serbia and Germany.
A total of 439 judokas will take to the tatami in Croatia.
Zaki Feyzullaev
İdman.biz