Azerbaijani figure skater Nargiz Suleymanova has written her name into the history of national sport in general and figure skating in particular by becoming the first Azerbaijani woman to compete at the European Figure Skating Championships, currently taking place in Sheffield, Great Britain.
As reported by Idman.Biz, Suleymanova performed her short program at the continental championships and finished 30th among 38 participants, scoring 46.60 points. The skater was unable to break into the top 24 athletes who advanced to the free skating segment.
Niina Petrokina of Estonia leads after the short program with a score of 70.61 points. She is followed by Nina Pinzarrone of Belgium with 64.97 and Anna Pezzetta of Italy with 64.85.
As noted above, Nargiz Suleymanova became the first Azerbaijani woman to compete at the European Figure Skating Championships. Previously, Azerbaijan had been represented at continental figure skating events exclusively by naturalized athletes.
Despite failing to qualify for the final segment of the women’s singles competition in Sheffield, the progress of the Azerbaijani figure skater cannot go unnoticed, especially given the fact that participation in the European Championships is not granted automatically but must be earned through sporting merit. Taking into account the experience gained, next season Nargiz can be expected not only to achieve a better result at the continental championships but also to deliver a great performance at the World Championships.
It should be added that, besides Suleymanova, Azerbaijan is also represented at the European Championships in Sheffield by Samanta Ritter and Daniel Brykalov, who are competing in the ice dance discipline.
Teymur Tushiyev
