Murad Mammadov goes to the World Championship for a gold medal: Interview

Interview of Murad Mammadov (60 kg), European champion, world runner-up and third-place winner in Greco-Roman wrestling of Azerbaijan, to AZERTAC

- How is your preparation for the World Championship to be held in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, on September 13-21?

- We started training camp on September 3 and it will last until the 16th. Of course, all members of our team are preparing well for the World Cup. I am also doing my best. I have several opponents that I have worked on both tactically and physically to meet. I can mention Kerim Kamal from Turkey and Sergey Emelin from Russia. I am fully prepared. The result at the European Championship was not as I wanted. I hope that I will perform successfully at the World Championship.

- What goals are you going to the World Cup with?

- The most important thing for me is not to return from the tournament without a medal. Of course, my main goal is to become a world champion. As you know, I am a silver and bronze medalist of the World Cup. Now I am going there for gold.

- How do you assess the overall chances of our national team?

- Eldeniz Azizli in the 55 kg weight category is a four-time world champion. I think he will do it for the fifth time. I rate his chances the highest within the team. I also expect a medal from Nihat Mammadli in the 60 kg category. He is a European and world champion. I believe that he will be on the podium this time as well. In the 67 kg, I hope that Hasrat Jafarov will be among the awardees. He is a very good athlete. I am sure that he will fight at least in the final. Of course, we also have strong wrestlers in other weight categories. I believe that we will all return to our homeland with good results.

- How do you evaluate the opponents? Which countries' wrestlers do you consider more dangerous?

- In general, there are no weak opponents in the World Championship. The strongest athletes of each country participate here. Russia, Turkey, Iran and Uzbekistan are more ambitious in wrestling. Unlike them, I think I can easily defeat wrestlers from countries such as Norway and Sweden. Still, you never know. This is sport. Anything can happen.

- What are your future plans after the World Championship?

- I will think about future plans after becoming a world champion. Now I am only focused on the World Cup. My biggest wish is to represent our Motherland properly.

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