In an interview with Idman.biz, 17-year-old Azerbaijani fencer Khadija Hasanli shared her thoughts on winning a gold medal at an open youth tournament in Konya, Turkiye.
She reflected on the high level of competition in the tournament, noting that many world and European championship medalists participated. "The tournament level was very high," Hasanli said. "There were world and European champions competing."
She went on to describe the difficulty of her last two matches: "Before the tournament, I had injured my leg, so I didn’t expect a great result. But I didn’t want to return home without a medal. I didn’t face any problems in the group stage. However, I had to play more than 15 matches, and the toughest ones were the semifinals and finals. Both of my opponents were from the same club, and we had trained together before. They knew me well, but the strongest one won."
Hasanli also shared her ambitious goals: "I want to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics. This is just the beginning. My dream is to stand on the podium as an Olympic champion, hear our anthem, and raise our flag. To achieve this, I need to win medals at World and European Championships, and I believe I can do it."
Alongside Hasanli, Mirkhatai Mammadov also earned a medal in the international tournament, finishing with a bronze.
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
