Azerbaijan pins great hopes on sambo fighters at Baku 2015

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

As the significant sporting event -- first-ever European Games is just around the corner, sportsmen hold their last trainings to put themselves in better shape.

Preparation for Baku 2015 was held very good, said Yagub Abdullayev, the head of Azerbaijan’s national sambo team, voicing hope that every athlete will show good results.

The competition on sambo is scheduled for June 22.A total of 72 sambo fighters will compete for the eight sets of medals in the competition.

At the Games Azerbaijan will be represented by eight sambo fighters: four men including Amil Gasimov 74kg, Kanan Gasimov 90kg, Islam Gasimov 57kg, and Vasif Safarbayov 100kg and four women such as Narmina Alizadeh 68kg, Farida Gurbanova 64kg, Shahane Huseynova 60kg and Nazakat Khalilova 52kg.

Abdullayev said that each of the fighters is ready to fight for the medals.

He also highlighted the support of fans. “No doubt, fans’ support inspires sportsmen to win. That’s why I invite all fans to watch the competitions and support our sportsmen,” he said.

Baku 2015 European Games is the first Games of the continent, which will be held in the capital of Azerbaijan on June 12-28. The Games will gather over 6,000 athletes from 50 countries to show their abilities in 20 sports.

Some 16 of these sports will be Olympic and four non-Olympic. Twelve of the sports will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Those sports include Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Volleyball and Wrestling.

Baku was awarded the Games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.