Rashid Mammadaliyev said: "I felt like I had nothing to lose, I just had to enjoy it."

"The atmosphere of the competition was very good."

This was stated to Idman.biz by Rashid Mammadaliyev, a judoka of the Azerbaijani national team.

He evaluated his performance at the European Championship held in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Mammadaliyev, who competed in the 73 kg weight category, said that being included in the team at the last moment did not cause him any difficulties: "With the support of both the coaches, the medical staff, and my teammates, it was easy for me to lose weight before the competition. Knowing that I would go to the competition at the last moment not only did not create difficulties, but also had a positive effect. In my opinion, if you know a month in advance that you will compete, it puts a lot of stress on the person. But knowing this at the last moment saved me from this stress. I thought I had nothing to lose, I just had to enjoy the competition to the fullest."

According to him, the most difficult matches started after the 1/8 final stage: "The matches with Frenchman Joan-Benjamin Gaba in the 1/4 final and Danil Lavrentev in the semi-final were not easy. Both were very experienced. If I evaluate the overall opponents, I had faced some of them in previous competitions. I analyzed others by looking at their previous competitions. I tried to fight according to the plan we created based on those results."

The judoka also emphasized the importance of the support of Olympic champions Elnur Mammadli and Hidayat Heydarov: "During the matches, I listened to both the coaches and what our Olympic champions said from the stands, and I tried to fight accordingly. Because their experience is greater than mine. The presence of those who supported me in the stands was a great motivation. This factor helped me to achieve success."

It should be noted that Rashid Mammadaliyev was included in the national team at the last moment due to Hidayat Heydarov's illness.

Aytaj Sahed
Idman.biz