2024-03-29 11:45:40
Tournaments in the world judo calendar continue non-stop. Our team has barely qualified for the Grand Slam in Tbilisi when today it will begin competing at a similar start in Antalya. Nine Azerbaijani athletes will compete in Turkey, but most of the leaders remain at home.
As reported by İdman.biz, after the performance in Georgia, which brought two silver and two bronze awards, changes occurred in the composition of the team. For example, Eljan Gadzhiev (90 kg), who has already collected three World Tour medals this year, will not be able to participate in Antalya. Instead of him, Vugar Talibov will take to the tatami, who has already distinguished himself among the elite this year, winning bronze at the Grand Slam in Baku.
It is noteworthy that the current squad includes several winners of last year’s junior championships. In addition to Talibov, who won silver at the Youth World Championship, the winner of the World Junior Championship Vusal Galandarzade (73 kg) will also compete at the competition. For him, this will be his first start in the elite, and given that the weight up to 73 kg is quite competitive in our country, Antalya will be an excellent test for yesterday’s junior. By the way, in this category the Azerbaijani team will be represented by two athletes. Rashid Mamedaliev (73 kg), who won silver at the Austrian Grand Prix at the beginning of the month, will also enter the fight.
Omar Rajabli got into good competitive shape, and after the home Grand Slam final he continued to gain ranking points and was on the verge of the podium at the next two World Tour tournaments. He took fifth place in Tashkent, seventh in Tbilisi, and now he will have the opportunity to show himself in Antalya.
If we talk about light and featherweight weights, then Zaur Pashayev (66 kg) will fight as the bronze medalist of the Grand Slam in Tbilisi. Last week he won his first career World Tour title, which should give him extra encouragement heading into Antalya.
In the super-heavyweight dispute, the correspondence competition between Ushangi Kokauri and Jamal Gamzakhanov continues. The latter won silver in Tbilisi and strengthened his ranking, but he needs to improve his stability. Whereas Jamal Gamzathanov lost in the first round at the last tournament and now expects to go as far as possible through the bracket.
A total of 628 athletes from 93 countries will compete in Antalya.
Zaki Feyzullaev
İdman.biz