National team wins bronze at taekwondo championship

TAzerbaijan’s capital Baku was a host to all three events in 2016, while last year’s events took place in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast.

The competition among teams ended on November 25.

Eight teams were competing in men’s category with Iran, Russia and South Korea considered the leading contenders.

The Azerbaijani team lost to Russia in the semifinal and the national sportsmen had to fight for bronze medal.

National team, led by head coach Reza Mehmandust, overcame Kazakhstan and took third place.

Iranian team grabbed victory in the championship by beating the Russian team in the final.

The Azerbaijani team included Olympic champion Radik Isayev (+80 kg), world champion Milad Beigi Kharchegani (80 kg), Gasym Magomedov (58 kg), Magomed Mammadov (68 kg) and Payam Gobadi (+87 kg).

National team will return home on November 26.

Taekwondo is one of the most popular sports in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation was established in 1992. The National Taekwondo Federation has trained many prominent athletes since its founding. Many of those athletes now enjoy international recognition.

Kamaladdin Heydarov has been elected the President of Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation in 1999. He is also vice president of the World Taekwondo Federation.

Fuzuli Musayev was elected as the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation in 2001.

The Federation’s training facility houses new, state-of-the-art training equipment and has a proud history of bringing up more than 500 black belt recipients and athletes.

Historical and cultural reserves of Azerbaijan have a special place among such attractions. Reserves under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism create extensive opportunities for the development of cultural tourism in the country.

The Azerbaijani State Tourism Agency is developing proposals to create modern infrastructure on the territory of the Yanardag State Historical-Cultural and Natural Reserve, Kenan Guluzade, head of the public relations department of the agency, told Trend.

He said that at this stage, work actively continues on the reconstruction of the reserve, which is a part of the state agency.

"Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on measures to reconstruct the Yanardag State Historical-Cultural and Natural Reserve in order to create modern tourism infrastructure in the territory of this reserve," he said.

Guluzade noted that seven reserves are included in the agency’s structure.

"Besides Yanardag, the agency’s structure includes the Ateshgah Temple State Historical-Architectural Reserve, the Basgal State Historical and Cultural Reserve, the Khinalig State Historical, Architectural and Ethnographic Reserve, the Lahij State Historical and Cultural Reserve, the Yukhary Bash State Historical and Architectural Reserve in Sheki city and the Kish State Historical and Architectural Reserve. By his decree, the president of Azerbaijan instructed the state agency to prepare the relevant information on condition of the Basgal State Historical and Cultural Reserve, as well as to prepare proposals for the development of tourism infrastructure in the territory of this reserve," said Guluzade.

He noted that the State Tourism Agency is working on all the issues, as well as closely studying the situation in five other reserves, where work of a similar nature is planned.

Cultural reserves and historical sites operating in the regions of the country have attracted many visitors throughout the year.

One of such examples is Ateshgah Temple. The place that is saturated with ancient history and religious beliefs is among the most attractive places of the country. The number of tourists visiting the place is increasing every year. Last year the number of tourists visiting Ateshgah was 30,751, while 25,346 of which were foreigners. The main share of those who visited Ateshgah made up the tourists coming from Russia and Arab countries.

Basgal settlement is located in the Ismayilli district at an altitude of 998 meters above sea level and is also a part of the state cultural and historical reserve. It is protected by the state.

According to a number of historians, Basgal was founded in the fourth century.

The small yet miraculous Khinalig is located at the peak of the Caucasus Mountains, 2,350 meters above the sea in Guba region. This village itself is enlisted as a State Historic-Architecture and Ethnography Preserve from 2007.

There are a number of tours and guests houses in the village, which make trip to Khinalig more convenient for tourists.

In 2017, a great number of tourists visited the State HistoricalCultural and Natural Reserve of Yanardag. During the year, 54,717 out of 63,574 people that visited the place were foreign tourists. They mostly came from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and other countries.

Last year, 56,742 tourists visited the Yukhari Bash State Historical-Architectural Reserve in Sheki. Some 40,182 people visited Lahij State Historical and Cultural Reserve in Ismayilli, and 25,850 tourists came to see Kish Historical-Architectural Reserve in Sheki.

In 2016, some 356,000 tourists visited the historical and cultural sites, whereas in 2017 this figure reached 486,233, a considerable share, namely, 166,153 of which fall on foreign citizens.