The high spirit of battle and victory lifts us to the heights

After the brilliant victories of Azerbaijan’s junior and young judokas in the world and European championships, our senior national team also pleased us with their success. Our judokas won 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal at the judo “Grand Slam” tournament held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and became the first team in this prestigious competition. This victory is an expression of infinite respect for the spirit of the Great Leader.

Gold of Yashar Najafov (-66 kg), Hidayat Heydarov (-73 kg) and Zelim Tchkayev (-81 kg), who also trained at “Judo Club 2012”, silver of Leyla Aliyeva (-48 kg), “Judo Club 2012” member Zelim Kotsoyev (-100 kg) won a bronze medal, gave a great sense of pride to the Azerbaijani judo family.

The tournament took place in the conditions of a very intense sports competition. The strongest judokas from 61 countries came to Baku. The tournament was held at the highest level by the relevant state institutions of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Judo Federation.

The fact that the first days of the competition coincided with the time when our heroic Army carried out anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh, which ended with victory, naturally brought a high spirit of fighting and victory to the members of our national team.

The modern state of Azerbaijan is winning great victories under the wise and decisive leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Honorable President Ilham Aliyev. The success of sports in our country, including judo, is the result of the attention and care shown by the head of state to this field.

I congratulate every member of the judo family, athletes, and coaching staff on the occasion of their victory in the “Grand Slam” tournament, and I wish them success in the next Olympic year!

Azer Askerov