Idman.biz
The World Judo Championship brought three bronze medals to the Azerbaijani national team. This result showed that after the brilliant successes of the past season, the team is at the beginning of a great journey in the new Olympic cycle. Although the result is considered satisfactory, the indicator achieved cannot but make one think.
Idman.biz reports that the results of the main competition of the season were not unequivocally received.
On the one hand, Zelim Tckaev (81 kg) and Eljan Hajiyev (90 kg) won their first medals at the World Championships, and on the other hand, Hidayat Heydarov's (73 kg) return was unsuccessful. He unexpectedly stopped the fight early, losing to Georgian Otari Kvantidze in the first match. However, let's not forget that the Olympic champion was on the tatami for the first time with the updated rules, where the "yuko" score can be decisive. In addition, Heydarov did not participate in competitions after Paris, and missed the European Championship due to a cold. In such a situation, it was not psychologically easy to perform directly at the World Championship. But there is no doubt that Hidayat will draw conclusions from this failure and come back stronger - everything is in his own hands.
Our other Olympic champion, Zelim Kotsoev, became a bronze medalist at the World Championships after winning a silver medal at the European Championships. His performance in Budapest was not easy; by losing to Armenian-born Russian Arman Adamyan in the quarter-finals, he lost the chance to defend his title from last year. He was caught by the opponent's holding technique because he was momentarily complacent, thinking he had won with an ippon. Getting out of this emotional state, he first defeated the Spanish representative Nikolaz Sherazadishvili, and then the South Korean Seheon Kim in the bronze medal match. Kotsoev himself admits that he has not yet reached his ideal form, but he will achieve it in time.
Eljan Hajiyev proved that he is one of the leading judokas in the 90 kg weight category. The first world bronze is especially valuable - because he had two surgeries on his shoulder and knee after the Olympics. Although he was close to reaching the final, he lost to Japanese Goki Tajima - in a match where he was ahead in the score, he wanted to distinguish himself with a risky technique, but he was met by the opponent's technique. In the bronze medal match, he defeated Estonian Kristofer Kalyulaid. New perspectives opened up for the former European champion.
Zelim Tckaev (81 kg) won his first medal at the World Championships, and this was the first success for the team in the current tournament. He eliminated Olympic medalist South Korean Jun-Hwan Lin from the competition, and fought equally with three-time world champion Tato Grigalashvili in the semi-final. In the small final, he defeated UAE representative Nugzari Tatalashvili. His successes in the last half year - the "Grand Slam" championship, bronze medals at the European and world championships - confirm Tckaev's progress.
Ushanqi Kokauri (+100 kg) was one step away from the medal. He won in the first three matches, and took revenge on Cuban Andy Granda for his defeat at the Olympics. He lost to Olympic silver medalist Guram Tushishvili in the quarter-finals, but defeated two-time Olympic champion Lukas Krpalek in the consolation stage. Interestingly, Kokauri also won a bronze medal at the World Championships 7 years ago - in the competition held in Baku - by defeating Krpalek. This time, however, he lost to the leader of the world ranking, Tajikistani Temur Rahimova, in the fight for third place and became fifth.
The matches in Budapest showed that the World Championship is still a competition full of surprises and difficult to predict. Even the most titled athletes can lose - for example, Japanese two-time Olympic champion Hifumi Abe was only satisfied with bronze this time, while Takanori Nagase (81 kg), who became champion in Tokyo and Paris, lost in the first match.
The Azerbaijani national team still has a lot of work to do. Because next year the World Championship will be held in Baku and the hosts should be as prepared as possible by that time.
Currently, the tournament among mixed teams continues in Budapest - in the 1/8 finals, our national team will face Germany.
Zaki Feyzullayev
Idman.biz
