National judokas shine in Italy

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani judo fighters showed their best at Alpe Adrea judo tournament in Italy.

The national judo fighters took the first place in team competition, azerisport.com reported. The Azerbaijani judokas won 5 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals.

The gold came from Haji Musayev (55 kg) and Karamat Huseynov (60 kg), Ismail Ibragimov (66 kg), Asildarov (73 kg) and Aslan Mirzoyev (90 kg).

The tournament brought together 1046 young judokas.

Judo is one of the most developed kinds of sport in Azerbaijan, while the National Judo Federation was established in 1972.

The adult judo team of Azerbaijan made considerable progress in 2016. The team led by the Autsrian coach Peter Seisenbacher won 51 awards in competitions of various levels. His clutch includes 14 gold, 10 silver and 27 bronze medals. The Federation's results showed that Azerbaijani judokas won 351 times out of 710 fights during the year.

The Azerbaijani judo fighter, silver medalist of Rio-2016 Summer Olympic Games Rustam Orujov was named the best in Azerbaijan's male team. Moreover, he is the strongest in the world in his weight class of 73kg, as well as among all weight classes.

The Azerbaijani judokas also showed good performance at the Rio-2016, bringing home two silver medals.

Next year the country's capital Baku will host the World Judo Championships 2018 among adults.