National karate fighters shine on world stage
Azerbaijani karate fighters have gained a bright victory at the Karate 1-Premier League held in Rabat, Morocco.
The tournament brought together 384 karate fighters from 34 countries.
Azerbaijan’s famous fighter Rafael Aghayev (75 kg) won the gold medal on the final day of the competition.
Aghayev beat Saudi Arabia's Majed Alkhalifah at under-75kg, as Morocco's Ahmed Hammi shared bronze with Erman Eltemur of Turkey.
Aykhan Mamayev beat Turkey`s Gunduz Gokhan as Egyptian duo Mohamed El Kotby and Ahmed Elmasry each took bronze.
Rafael Aghayev, nicknamed “Black brilliant of the world karate”, has managed to achieve all of the highest sporting victories in karate; he is multiple European Champion and repeated World Champion.
Not so long ego, Aghayev has become the fife-time world champion. The documentary about the 31-year-old Azerbaijani sportsman was premiered on November 29.
For outstanding sports achievements, he repeatedly has received awards from the leadership of the National Olympic Committee, the Youth and Sport Ministry of Azerbaijan Republic.
In 2013, Azerbaijani karate fighter Aykhan Mamayev won a first gold medal for the Azerbaijani team at the Islamic Solidarity Games being held in Palembang, Indonesia.
Moreover, this year Mamayev became the winner of the 30th International Bosphorous Karate Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games has announced that the BonAqua will be the Official Water Provider of the Games.
BonAqua is a brand of The CocaCola Company, produced locally in Azerbaijan.
Speaking about the agreement Elchin Safarov, Corporate Director of Baku 2017 said: “I am very pleased to confirm that BonAqua will be the Official Water Provider of Baku 2017. Coca-Cola Company has a long history of supporting major international sporting events and we are delighted that they be associated with the Baku 2017. BonAqua is premier water brand in Azerbaijan and we look forward to work with them closely. They will provide BonAqua water to all the athletes during the Games.”
Coca-Cola is the world’s leading producer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages. More than 1.9 billion servings of its beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries each day. Coca-Cola opened its soft drink plant in 1994 in Azerbaijan providing direct and indirect employment to more than 2,200 citizens.
The Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games will feature athletes from every one of the ISSF’s 57 member nations, who are based across four continents. Athletes will compete in 20 sports, across 270 medal events, including football, athletics, gymnastics, wrestling and boxing.
Tickets for the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games are available online, via the Baku2017 website – www.baku2017.com or via 12 outlets located across Baku.
The Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games is an exciting multi-sport event uniting the Islamic world, which will take place from 12 – 22 May 2017.
Athletes from Islamic countries around the world will be representing their nations over 10 days of competition across 20 different sports which include 23 disciplines (Athletics and Para Athletics, Aquatics – Diving, Aquatics – Swimming, Aquatics – Water Polo, Basketball 3x3, Football, Gymnastics – Artistic, Gymnastics – Rhythmic, Wushu, Table Tennis, Handball, Judo and Blind Judo, Wrestling – Greco, Wrestling – Freestyle, Shooting, Tennis, Volleyball, Boxing, Zurkhaneh, Karate, Taekwondo and Weightlifting) in 16 world-class sporting venues in Baku.
Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku was awarded the Games at the General Assembly of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF) in Jeddah in July 2013.
The Organising Committee was set up by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, honourable Ilham Aliyev. According to this decree, the leadership of the Organising Committee has been assigned to the First Vice President of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva. The Azerbaijan Islamic Solidarity Games Operations Committee (AISGOC) will organize and run the Games in cooperation with the ISSF.