The Azerbaijan national judo team is set to depart for France overnight to compete at the prestigious Paris Grand Slam, one of the flagship events on the international judo calendar.
Speaking to Idman.Biz before the team’s departure, senior national team coach and former European and world champion Elkhan Mammadov shared his expectations for the tournament, where Azerbaijan will be represented by eight judokas.
The Paris Grand Slam is widely regarded as the strongest event in the Grand Slam series in terms of overall field, often described within the judo community as a “mini world championship”. This year, Azerbaijan will compete without several of its top stars, including Olympic champions Hidayat Heydarov and Zelim Tskhayev, as well as European champion Eldjan Hajizadeh, all of whom are missing the event for different reasons.
Despite those absences, Mammadov remains cautiously optimistic. He believes Azerbaijan has realistic medal ambitions in at least three weight categories: -60 kg, -81 kg and +100 kg. Special attention is on Balabay Agayev in the -60 kg class, who has already won the Paris tournament twice in the past and will be aiming to repeat that success.
At the same time, the coach stressed that the challenge will be significant. Japanese and Russian judokas are expected to compete with near full-strength line-ups, while the host nation traditionally benefits from extra motivation and strong home support in Paris. Against that backdrop, any podium finish would be a meaningful result as the new competitive cycle gathers momentum.
