The women’s national wrestling team, which won one silver and one bronze medal at the U-20 World Championship held in Samokov, Bulgaria, has returned home.
A welcoming ceremony was held for the team at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Idman.biz reports.
The acting head coach, Togrul Asgarov, shared his impressions of the tournament. Recalling that at the U-20 European Championship, two out of three of our athletes won gold medals, the coach said they expected the same result here: “We were very close. Gunay missed the win in the semifinals, while Ruzanna lost in the final at the last moment. It’s normal for such things to happen at youth and junior levels. I hope we won’t repeat these mistakes at the senior World Championships and the Olympic Games. We need to work harder, show more determination. Our team is young, the road ahead is long, and our goals are ambitious. The federation provides strong support. We’ll try to repay that support and attention. Hopefully, everything will turn out as we want. Sometimes consecutive competitions cause psychological fatigue in the girls. Despite all this, winning two medals in three weight categories at both the European and World Championships is a great achievement. It’s very pleasing that these girls have huge potential.”
Senior coach Rovshan Umudov noted that the World Championship was a very tough competition: “Both mentally and in terms of the competition itself, it’s very different from the European Championship. There are very strong opponents from Asian countries. Nevertheless, everything was going well. There were just some tactical mistakes. Because of that, we missed out on the championship. We had prepared well. We expect even better results from these two wrestlers. They must always be ready and prepare more. I believe we will fix these mistakes in the future. That will make the results even better.”
The medalists of the World Championship also shared their thoughts. Silver medalist Ruzanna Mammadova said the competition was very challenging: “The presence of Asian countries makes the World Championship much tougher. I defeated strong opponents and reached the final. Everything was fine in the first period of the final, I was leading 6-0. Then I got very tired in the second period, and my endurance failed, so I fell behind 6-6 and lost based on the last point rule. Honestly, I’m not satisfied with the result. I went there for gold. But I’m grateful for this as well. Hopefully, next year I’ll return with gold. The main goal is the Olympics. I hope to earn a license and represent my country with honor. These competitions are just the road leading there. I also hope to perform as I wish at the U-23 World Championship.”
World bronze medalist Gunay Gurbanova emphasized that her goal was the world title: “I was overconfident in the semifinals. I already saw myself in the final. But it turned out this way. I’m not discouraged. This was a lesson for me, to never be complacent in any match. Next month I will wrestle at the senior World Championship. I’m not nervous. I will prepare for this tournament with great motivation.”
Idman.biz
