Today, a Volleyball Championship dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic has started with the participation of the volleyball clubs of Azerbaijan and Turkiye.
The dear memory of Azerbaijan’s martyrs was commemorated with a minute's silence at the opening ceremony of the competition organized jointly by the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Nakhchivan Volleyball Federation, (NVF) Idman.biz reports.
Then the National Anthem was played.
NVF President Vugar Aliyev, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Deputy Minister Majid Seyidov, who delivered speeches at the ceremony, greeted the guests and talked about the purpose and importance of the tournament and shared their impressions.
The historical facts related to the 100-year autonomy of Nakhchivan were mentioned, the role of Turkiye in preserving autonomy, the national leader Heydar Aliyev's liberation struggle for the independence of Azerbaijan, and the important political achievements given to Azerbaijan with the trust of the people, as well as the worthy continuation mission of President Ilham Aliyev were discussed.
The officials highlighted Azerbaijan's prominent role in the global sports arena, noting the country's rich sports heritage, modern advancements, and significant achievements. They attributed these successes to the effective implementation of state sports policies. With robust state support, sports in the autonomous republic are evolving rapidly, expanding sports infrastructure across the country, and promoting a healthy lifestyle among the population, particularly the youth. This commitment has led to historic achievements by Azerbaijani athletes in both national and international competitions.
Majid Seyidov said that important works based on a useful strategy have been done and important innovations have been experienced in Nakhchivan volleyball during the past year since the structural change in the NVF. As a result of the successful cooperation relations established by the Federation with the Ministry, AVF, as well as direct activities, the public observes stable development in this field.
The deputy minister assessed the involvement of girls in sports and the formation of a national team in this context, participation in competitions, training camps, access to the national team as a contribution to the development of women's sports in Nakhchivan.
In his speech, reciting the poem "Azerbaijan-Turkiye" by the folk poet Bakhtiyar Vahabzade, expressing the deep love of inter-country fraternal relations, Igdir Youth and Sports Provincial Director Recai Sahin expressed his gratitude for inviting Turkish clubs to the Cup.
The guest highly valued this in terms of the development of sports relations between the two brotherly countries, which have a common history, culture, and values, which have been getting stronger recently.
The speakers congratulated the teams on the occasion of the remarkable event and wished them good sports competition and success.
Then the ceremonial transition of the teams took place. Captain of Nakhchivan Zeynab Babayeva presented symbolic gifts to other club captains. After the ceremony, Nakhchivan and Sumgayit were on the field for the opening game. The match ended with the advantage of the host team with a score of 2:0 (25:16, 25:10).
The participants of the first game are fighting in Group A together with Eskisehir and Tovuz. The Azerbaijan U16 national team, Ganja, Shargi Zangezur and Igdir teams are in Group B.
The final and third place games will be held on September 7, the last day of the tournament.
Idman.biz
