Azerbaijani judokas claim medals in Israel
Azerbaijani judokas have claimed three medals at Jerusalem Masters 2022 in Israel.
The tournament brought together more than 350 judokas from 58 countries. Saeid Mollaei brought a silver medal for Azerbaijan, while Balabay Aghayev and Zelim Kotsoyev took bronze medals.
Founded in 1972, the Azerbaijan Judo Federation actively promotes this martial art across the country. Since 2015, the Federation has been led by Rovnaq Abdullayev.
The country's modern judo history was laid by Mehman Azizov, who won a silver medal at the Old World Championship in 1998.
A year later, the winner of the World Youth Games in Moscow, Rasul Salimov, grabbed the bronze medal at European Championship in Slovakia. Another national judoka Elchin Ismayilov became the European champion in 2000 in Wroclaw.
However, the achievements of the Azerbaijani judo fighters did not stop there. Elnur Mammadli was named the best at the Beijing Olympics 2008 in the 73 kg division.
The Beijing Olympics 2008 gave a fresh impetus to judo in Azerbaijan.
The list of the country's top judo fighters includes Rustam Orujov, Irina Kindzerskaya, Mammadali Mehdiyev, Elmar Gasimov, Hidayat Heydarov, Zelim Kotsoyev, Ushangi
Kokauri, and Nijat Shikhalizada.
Rustam Orujov is the silver medalist of the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 73 kg event. Last year, he climbed the podium six times in various competitions. The silver medal at the World Championships in Tokyo is of particular attention.
Irina Kindzerskaya also showed her best at the judo championships. The final of the Grand Slam in Dusseldorf 2020 also added extra points to Irina in the judo ranking.
Mammadali Mehdiyev is a bronze medalist at the European Games in Minsk. He also finished fifth at the Grand Slam in Osaka, Paris, and Dusseldorf.
Elmar Gasimov competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a silver medal in 2016.
The judo fighter won a gold medal at the 2009 European Youth Championship, after defeating Lukáš Krpálek in the final. He also grabbed bronze at the 2017 World Championships.
Hidayat Heydarov enriched the country's medal haul with a gold medal at the 2017 European Judo Championships. He defeated his teammate Rustam Orujov at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games final.
Zelim Kotsoyev became Junior World Champion in Zagreb in 2017 and was also the European Junior champion in 2017 in Maribor.
He won the Grand Prix Antalya in 2018 and became European Cadet Champion U18 in 2014 in Athens and in 2015 in Sofia. The judoka took silver at the World Cadet Championships in Sarajevo in 2015.