Idman.biz
The Azerbaijan national judo team will compete with a strong team at the Grand Slam tournament to be held in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), which will open the Olympic qualification.
Idman.Biz reports that 19 of our athletes will go to the ranking tournament, which will be held on June 19–21. Among them are the winners of the Paris Summer Games, Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelim Kotsoiev (100 kg).
Ahmad Yusifov, Balabay Agayev (both 60 kg), Ruslan Pashayev, Nizami Imranov (both 66 kg), Rashid Mammadaliyev (73 kg), Zelim Tskayev (81 kg), Murad Fatiyev, Aslan Kotsoiev (both 90 kg), Kanan Nasibov and Jamal Gamzatkhanov (both +100 kg) will also compete in the competition.
The national women's team includes Konul Aliyeva, Shafag Hamidova (both 48 kg), Gultaj Mammadaliyeva, Leyla Aliyeva (both 52 kg), Fidan Alizade (63 kg), Sudaba Agayeva (70 kg) and Madina Kaisinova (+78 kg).
Currently, 413 athletes from 54 countries have registered to participate in the Grand Slam tournament.
According to the number of participants by country, the Azerbaijan national team is in fifth place. France and Russia are the leaders with 26 judokas, followed by Korea (23), Italy (21) and Kazakhstan (20).
The main criterion for selection for the 2026 Summer Games is the world ranking. For two years, athletes will earn points in ranking competitions, including world and continental championships, Grand Slam tournaments, Grand Prix and Masters competitions.
It is expected that the athletes who hold the first 17 places in the ranking table in each weight category will receive a ticket to Los Angeles. Of course, only one judoka from each country is allowed to participate in each weight.
It should be noted that Azerbaijani judokas held a training camp in Benidorm, Spain, under the auspices of the European Judo Union (EJU) in preparation for the Olympic qualification.
