A major start, a minor finish Analysis of the Azerbaijani judokas’ performances

The European Championships held in Bratislava brought together more than 370 judokas from 42 countries. The Azerbaijani team, led by Rustam Alimli and Amina Abdellatif, “landed” in the Slovak capital with a rather strong line-up, except for our champion Fidan Alizada (57 kg), who missed the tournament due to injury (as well as the Universiade earlier).

Thus, the final squad of the national team was as follows: Nihad Mamishov, Farid Garayev (both – 60 kg), Mahammad Musayev, Nizami Imranov (both – 66 kg), Abil Yusubov (73 kg), Suleyman Shukurov (81 kg), Aslan Kotsoev (90 kg), Davud Namazli (100 kg), Ramazan Ahmadov (+100 kg), Farida Mirzayeva (48 kg), Khadija Gadashova, Aydan Valiyeva (both – 52 kg), and Nigar Suleymanova (+78 kg).

In Fidan’s absence, true leadership qualities were demonstrated by another favourite of the team — two-time world junior champion Nihad Mamishov, who, in brilliant style, defeated all his opponents (including Farid Garayev) and for the first time won a gold medal at the European Championships.

And while Nihad’s gold medal was quite expected, the spectacle put on by our athletes in the 66 kg category came as a real surprise. Mahammad Musayev, having expertly overcome all his opponents, became the champion, while Nizami Imranov, another Azerbaijani judoka competing in the same weight class, won the bronze medal. Two Azerbaijani athletes on the same podium! And all this on the very first day of the tournament — what could be better! If only the women had also supported the men, it would have been a dream scenario. But alas, without Fidan Alizada, they lacked another leader.

Unfortunately, in the following days, the rest of our tatami masters could not maintain such a brilliant start.

On the second day, two more Azerbaijani judokas competed — Abil Yusubov (73 kg) and last year’s European champion Suleyman Shukurov (81 kg). Yusubov won two bouts and reached the quarterfinals, where he lost, as he did again in the repechage. Shukyurov, meanwhile, won his opening match but was defeated in the round of 16, performing well below his potential.

On the third day of the individual competitions, four more Azerbaijani judokas took to the tatami — Aslan Kotsoev (90 kg), Davud Namazli (100 kg), Ramazan Ahmadov (+100 kg), and Nigar Suleymanova (+78 kg).

One of the tournament favourites, last year’s European silver medalist Aslan Kotsoev, whose recent performances have not been at their best, started with a win but lost in his next bout. Namazli, Ahmadov, and Suleymanova were defeated in their very first matches.

Thus, Azerbaijan finished the individual competitions with three medals (2 gold – 0 silver – 1 bronze).

On the final day, the mixed team competitions were held. The Azerbaijani team, which had won this championship last year, came away without a medal. The reason was a surprising — I would even say sensational — defeat in the opening round against Switzerland (2:4).

The team then regrouped and convincingly beat Slovakia in the repechage round (4:0). However, in the fight for third place, Azerbaijan lost again — this time to Germany (2:4), officially losing its status as European champion.

The team competitions were somewhat brightened by an excellent performance from our super-heavyweight Ramazan Ahmadov, who won all of his bouts. This means that the highly inconsistent Kokauri finally has a worthy domestic rival.

Summarising the EURO, I must note the following: unlike the junior world championships, our judokas performed significantly better at the senior European Championships.

At the previous European Championship, the bar had been set extremely high, and expecting four more gold medals (plus gold in the team event) would have been overly optimistic. Still, to lose to Switzerland in the team competitions is excessive. Therefore, I am certain that the coaching staff (especially for the women’s team) has work to do — and fortunately, there are athletes to work with. 

By Vugar Vugarli, exclusively for Caliber.Az