The second day of the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam in Mongolia proved challenging for Azerbaijan's judo team, with all four competitors eliminated in the early stages of the tournament.
As reported by İdman.Biz, Fidan Alizada (63 kg) began her campaign from the Round of 32 but suffered an early exit after losing to Italy's Savita Russo by hansoku-make.
In the men's 73 kg division, Rashid Mammadaliyev faced Morocco's Hassan Dukkali in the Round of 32. The closely contested bout was decided in golden score, where the Azerbaijani judoka was defeated by yuko.
Another Azerbaijani representative, Zelim Tckayev (81 kg), also saw his tournament come to an early end. He was beaten by the UAE's Qadjimurad Omarov in golden score in his opening contest.
Sudaba Aghayeva (70 kg) was unable to advance as well, losing to Dutch judoka Margit de Voogd in the Round of 32.
Azerbaijan had also been expected to field Olympic champion Hidayat Heydarov in the 73 kg category. However, the Paris 2024 gold medalist was not allowed to compete after failing to make the required weight limit for his division.
Despite the disappointing results on the second day, Azerbaijan enjoyed success on the opening day of the tournament. Balabay Aghayev claimed the gold medal in the 60 kg category, while Nizami Imranov secured a bronze medal at 66 kg.
The Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam is one of the International Judo Federation's premier events and attracts many of the world's leading judokas as they compete for ranking points and international honors.
