Idman.biz
Exactly one week has passed since the start of the Universiade held in the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany. The Azerbaijani team has two gold and one silver medal in rhythmic gymnastics. However, there are serious reasons for our athletes to continue these successes and expand the award collection in the next five days.
A correspondent of Idman.biz, who was sent to Germany, reports that the gymnasts were an example for the entire team.
Interestingly, this team is participating in student games for the first time in its history, and the debut turned out to be literally "golden": victory in the all-around and exercises with five ribbons, and a silver medal in the composition with three balls and two hoops. For the team consisting of Güllü Agalarzade, Darya Sorokina, Laman Alimuradova, Kamilla Aliyeva and Elizaveta Luzan, these medals were both memorable and motivating. Undoubtedly, this success in Germany will give them additional confidence before the World Championship in Rio de Janeiro.
After the start of the gymnasts, certain results were expected from the taekwondo athletes. However, most of our athletes did not meet expectations. Eltaj Gafarov (87 kg), the last medal hope in individual competitions, lost to Ukrainian Artyom Kharbara in the 1/4 finals. Hamidreza Badrialiabadi (+87 kg) and Taleh Suleymanov (80 kg) also said goodbye to the competition at the same stage. In this regard, the taekwondo team remained outside of possible medals.
Now our main hopes are pinned on judo, and the competitions start tomorrow. In this sense, the coming days can seriously strengthen the team's position in the medal standings. Currently, Azerbaijan is on the verge of the top "ten". For Eljan Hajiyev, the leader of the judo team, success at the Universiade could be a significant motivation after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships.
As for the organization of the Universiade, it is generally satisfactory. However, some technical inconsistencies are noticeable, especially in the work process with the media. For example, on the final day of the gymnasts, they did not want to let us into the stands - neither the multiforum organizers nor the security staff. They argued that all tickets were sold. We had to go around the sectors several times and spend time explaining that we were journalists and that accreditation was enough. Later, the organizers explained this as a "technical error" and apologized, but it was too late.
The weather in Germany is not treating us well either. It rains often, the weather is gloomy, and there are sharp changes in temperature. But this is not new to Azerbaijani journalists. Also, the competitions continue in any weather - even beach volleyball is held in its own rhythm.
We continue our work...
Zeki Feyzullayev, from Essen (Germany)
Idman.biz
