Azerbaijani wrestlers thrill the world

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

After the stunning victory at the European Games in Baku this summer, where the national wrestling team grabbed 12 medals, the Azerbaijani team repeated its success.

This time, the national team returned with many trophies from 2015 World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas, securing eight medals and 11 qualifications ahead of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

In order to qualify for Rio 2016, the athletes should enter the top five. Thus, during the six-day competition where 108 qualifying licenses were available, Azerbaijan came in second, following Russia with 12 spots.

This is as good a result as four years ago, when the national wrestlers gained six spots to the 2012 Olympics.

Male wrestlers Rovshan Bayramov (silver) weighing at 59kg, Saman Tahmasibi (bronze) at 85kg, Elvin Mursaliyev at 75kg, Sabah Shariati at 130kg, Jamaladdin Mahammadov (silver) at 125kg, Magomedhaji Khatiyev at 86kg, Khetag Gazumov (bronze) at 97kg, Togrul Askerov at 65kg as well as female wrestlers Maria Stadnik (silver) at 48 kg, Anjela Dorogan and Yulia Ratkevich (bronze) at 53kg secured tickets to the Rio Olympics.

Azerbaijani athlete Rasul Chunayev at 71kg and Haji Aliyev at 61 kg became champions.

"Happy Dancer," as Chunayev is known in the American press, won gold in a single breath and with a smile on his face, and in his opinion, this greatly affected his opponents.

“At the World Championships, I barely weighed in at 71 kg. Our head coach Jamshid Heyrabadi asked me to perform in 71 kg, so that we are not faced with Hasan Aliyev (teammate). After the U.S., I will reduce my weight and will perform at 66 kg. I won many victories in this weight,” he said.

Aliyev experienced his second victory, thus becoming the first two-time champion in Azerbaijan’s free-style wrestling history.

The wrestler said that the historical significance of his performance was exactly what motivated through to the final battle. “I devoted my victory to Azerbaijani people, and daughter, who was born on the eve of the World Cup,” he said.

Being that 61kg is a non-Olympic weight class, Haji said that he would discuss altering his weight with his coaches in order to compete in Olympics.

“Earlier this year, I participated in several international tournaments in 65 kg, as did not want to ‘chase’ weight. But before the world championships, I returned to 61 kg. I will have a choice either 57 kg or 65 kg. I would choose 65 kg, as reducing weight is more and more difficult with time,” Aliyev said.

Rasul’s victory drew the attention of the world wrestling community and the United World Wrestling, said Ajdar Jafarov Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation.

“I want to highlight Haji’s strong-willed character, thanks to which he gave no chance to his opponent in the final defeating him 10:0. It rarely happens that in the World Cup final, one athlete is so superior to another,” he stressed.

Jafarov also added that securing a license does not mean a ticket to the Rio de Janeiro.

“Those wrestlers who will go to Rio will be determined during the preparation to the Olympics. They will compete in a number of tournaments, then the coaches will determine the squad of the team,” he said

Jafarov also noted, “Everything can change prior to the Olympics. Coaches will prepare a report that will be submitted to the President of the National Federation Fazil Mammadov. After reviewing the report, the leadership of the federation will announce the squad for the Olympics. Our goal is not a number of licenses, but their quality.”

Based on the ancient and historic roots of wrestling in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani wrestling school has become well established throughout the country.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in Azerbaijan and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.