European Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling and two-time silver medalist of the World Championship Sanan Suleymanov (77 kg) gave an interview to the official website of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation.
According to Idman.biz, the first competition of the year, the wrestler who took the top place in the ranking tournament in Croatia, talked about his goals for the Paris-2024 Summer Olympic Games.
- How do you prepare preparation for the competition?
- I had a serious injury after the World Championship. I was being treated for almost two months. Then I gradually resumed training. After participating in a couple of training camps, we left for Zagreb. Frankly, on the eve of the tournament, I did not feel in a high state of preparation. But I believed in myself a lot. I think I got this result because of self-confidence.
- What can you say about your performance in the competition?
- The ranking tournament was harder than I expected. Many countries brought 2-3 wrestlers in each weight class to be selected for the upcoming competitions. There were 42-43 athletes in the weight class. My first date is always difficult. This time, I barely beat Turkey's Ahmet Yılmaz. Then I defeated a Bulgarian wrestler of Armenian origin. This meeting was not easy either. Because my opponent is a strong wrestler. In the next stage, I won against the German wrestler whom I lost in the 2022 world championship. In the semi-final, I got a revenge against Yunus Emre Bashar from Turkiye. Twice I lost to him due to blunders of the judges. In the final, I won against Zoltan Leva, who everyone knows, with a score of 5:0.
- Did you specially prepare for the meeting with Leva, your main rival?
- I was not specially prepared for the final. I met him for the 4th time. I beat him for the first time in the final of the European Championship in 2020. Then I defeated the Hungarian wrestler at the World Cup in Baku. Last year I lost to Joltan in the continental championship. This time I won the race again.
- By the way, 4 years have passed since the European Championship title. Are you determined to regain this title?
- The main competition before the Olympics is the continental championship. I will try to repeat my result in 2020 and become European champion for the 2nd time.
- You skillfully performed the trick of going behind the opponent several times in the rating tournament...
- I have been using this trick since childhood. Although not every match, I can often get points this way. This is my main trick. I work on it in every training.
- If you used to have difficulty in winning points in parter situations, you no longer have problems in this regard in recent competitions. Can we say that it overcomes this deficiency?
- It's true, I managed to get points in parter in some matches. But I don't think that this problem has disappeared. So far, I have solved only 20 percent of this deficiency. I work on this problem for about half an hour every day at practice and after practice. Hopefully, I will solve this issue at the maximum level before the Olympics.
- Sanan Suleymanov, who is uninjured and in shape, is considered one of the main favorites of the competitions. Many mention you and Akjol Mahmudov (Kyrgyzstan) as the main candidates for the Olympic championship in 77 kg. And what do you think about it?
- There are no easy opponents in the Olympic Games. I look at all participants with the same eye. It is true that some athletes excel in terms of results. However, I consider all wrestlers of my weight to be serious competitors. If I don't get injured, I can beat all my opponents. Hopefully, I will achieve my wish.
Idman.biz
