English 
Azərbaycan 
Русский 
We were very pleased that our junior judokas achieved high results in individual and team competitions at the European Championships held in Odivelas, Portugal. Our athletes, who won 6 gold and 3 bronze medals in individual competitions, took first place among boys and 4th place among girls.
This is the best result achieved by the Azerbaijani national team in all the European championships in which it has participated so far, both in terms of the number and quality of medals. Our team beat the European giants in the competition in which 40 countries participated and finished the continental championship at the top.
Mehdi Jafarov (66 kg), a student of “Judo Club 2012”, is among the medalists, and we are especially pleased. He contributed to the success of our team by winning a bronze medal.
It is also a historical achievement that our national team won the gold medal in the mixed team competitions, winning against the teams of countries rich in judo traditions. Having eliminated such strong teams as the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, our team defeated the French national team in the decisive match and won the gold medals and the cup of the competition.
Achieving such an achievement in the team competition, where the strongest athletes of 16 countries are represented, is a clear indicator of the successful development of Azerbaijani judo. This victory is also a real and visible embodiment of the special attention and care of the Honorable Mr. President Ilham Aliyev, the leadership of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation to the development of the sport and to the growing generation of young judokas.
I congratulate the entire judo family, our team, and dedicated judokas on the occasion of historic victories, and wish them success in future competitions!
Azer Askerov
President of the Association of Azerbaijan Judo Veterans, member of the Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation, and multiple winners and awardees of the world and European championships among veteran masters.
