April will be the month of the return of Olympic heroes.
Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelim Kotsoyev (100 kg) have been included in the national team for the European Championship, which will begin on April 23 in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, Idman.biz reports.
It means that Paris 2024 triumphants are returning to the tatami again.
At the beginning of the year, head coach Richard Trautman stated that the leaders would not rush to start the season. He indicated the European and world championships as the main goals of Heydarov and Kotsoyev. The national team leaders had the opportunity to fully recover from their injuries, as well as recover after a busy year and return to the tatami with renewed vigor. They attended several training camps in Europe, and then trained in Japan for about a month, getting into a regimen. The expert noted that both athletes are in shape and can achieve maximum results again at the European Championship.
Of course, the presence of Heydarov and Kotsoyev in the squad significantly increases the team's chances of success. In addition, Hidayat will try to defend the title he has held for three years, and Zelim will try to return the continental crown.
If we talk about the chances of the team as a whole, Trautman is cautious in his predictions: "I expect at least three awards, but maybe two, maybe four. The guys are well prepared. For example, Zelim Tchkayev (81 kg) has won the Grand Slam several times, but he still has no medals from the world or European championships."
A fairly strong squad has been assembled for the continental championship. The lack of athletes in the 90 kg weight category may raise questions, but this is due to a nuance in the regulations. The point is that each team can participate in the European championship with a maximum of 18 athletes (nine in each of the male and female categories). Moreover, it is possible to be represented by two judokas in several weight categories. Considering that Turan Bayramov and Ahmad Yusifov will compete in the 60 kg weight category, and Tchkayev and Omar Rajabli in the 81 kg weight category, the team has closed the quantitative limit by categories for the European Championship.
Saying that in general there are athletes in the team who can pleasantly surprise, the head coach highlighted the names of Ruslan Pashayev and Turan Bayramov. The first of them started the season with a victory in the Grand Slam competition held in Paris, and the other competed in the final of a similar competition in Tashkent.
For now, Azerbaijan national team continues its training in Baku together with the Italian and Kazakh teams. But soon Azerbaijani judokas will leave for a training camp in the Hungarian city of Tata, where the athletes will directly prepare for the European Championship.
Zaki Feyzullaev
Idman.biz
