Only 15 days remain to determine the best in the world of judo for the year.
Idman.biz reports that the International Judo Federation (IJF) is conducting a poll to select the top athletes, coaches, and moments across various categories.
The voting process began on December 10 and will conclude on January 10.
Among the contenders for the title of Judoka of the Year are Olympic and World Champions Hidayat Heydarov (73kg) and Zelym Kotsoiev (100kg) from Azerbaijan. They are competing against prominent names such as Hifumi Abe, Takanori Nagase (both from Japan), Teddy Riner (France), Lasha Bekauri (Georgia), and Eldos Smetov (Kazakhstan).
Azerbaijan is also represented in four additional categories:
Coach of the Year: The national men's team coach, Richard Trautmann, is among the nominees.
Rising Star: Junior World Champion Nihad Mamishov is competing in this category.
Ippon of the Year: Techniques by Turan Bayramov and Zelim Tckaev are in the running.
Judo for Children: The ‘Adaptive Judo’ project by the Azerbaijan Judo Federation is a nominee in this category.
The winners in each category will receive their awards during the prestigious Grand Slam tournament in Paris on February 1-2.
Idman.biz
