"My goal was to be the champion, but I was destined for third place."
It was told by Murad Fatiyev, a judoka of the Azerbaijani national team, to Idman.biz.
He assessed his performance at the European Championship held in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Fatiyev, who rose to the third step of the podium in the 90 kg weight category, said that the competition was very difficult: "Some matches were especially difficult. For example, the Georgian Luka Maisuradze had beaten me three times before, and I had won only once. Although the match with him was difficult, I was the winner. I also met the French athlete Alexis Mathieu, with whom I was fighting for bronze, twice before. He won one of these matches and I won the other. He is a very strong athlete. This match with Mathieu was also difficult."
The judoka also spoke about his future plans: "The world championship is in 40 days. We will start training as soon as we return to Baku. We have very little time. I really want to win a medal at the world championship."
In the fight for the bronze medal of the European championship, Fatiyev defeated Alexis Mathieu by ippon and took 3rd place.
Aytac Sahad
Idman.biz
