National judokas in Top 20 of IJF World Ranking
By Laman Ismayilova
The International Judo Federation has released its ranking for January, 2018.
Ten Azerbaijani judokas are in Top 20 in their weight categories, Azertag reported.
Rustam Orujov (73kg), Hidayat Heydarov (73kg), Elkhan Mammadov (100kg), Elmar Gasimov (100kg) and Orkhan Safarov (60kg) are ranked third, fourth, fourth, sixth and seventh respectively.
Azerbaijani female judo fighter Irina Kindzerska (+78kg) ranks seventh.
Nijat Shikhalizade (66kg), Mammadali Mehdiyev (90kg), Tural Safguliyev (90kg) and Ushangi Kokauri (+100kg) are also in Top 20.
Rustam Orujov (73 kg) is the second in Zagreb's championship. Hidayat Heydarov's position in the same weight category remained unchanged. He is in fifth place. Mammadali Mehdiyev (90 kg) and Iryna Kindzerska (+78 kg) are 12th and 8th respectively.
Hidayet Heydarov won a gold medal at the 2017 European Judo Championships.He defeated his teammate Rustam Orujov at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games final.
In 2017, he took bronze at the Grand Slam tournament in Paris. And in the same year he became European champion in judo in weight up to 73 kg, defeating Musa Mogushkov from Russia in the finals. Thus, Heydarov became the only judo winner of all four European titles , and the European Judo Union called him the best young judoist in Europe.
Elkhan Mammadov won the gold medal in 2013 at the World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, defeating Henk Grol, from Netherlands, during the −100 kg final category.
In 2017, Elkhan Mammadov claimed gold the European Championship by defeating Cyrille Maret in the final. In the same year, he won the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku, defeating the silver medalist of the Olympic Games Elmar Gasimov in the final.
Elmar Gasimov competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a silver medal in 2016.
In May 2017, he became the silver medalist of the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku, where he lost to Mammadov in the final. In the same year, he also took bronze at the World Championships in Budapest.
Orkhan Safarov won the bronze at the 2013 World Judo Championships in the category –60 kg.
In 2016, he became vice-champion of Europe. Last year, he became the bronze medalist of the European Championship and the winner of Islamic solidarity games in Baku. In the same year, he won a silver medal at the World Championship.
Iryna Kindzerska grabbed bronze at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. She won the Grand Prix Düsseldorf in 2017 vs her nemesis Tachimoto. Kindzerska fought the World Junior Championships final in 2009. She won the EYOD in Belgrade in 2007. In 2015 she won bronze at the Grand Slam of Paris, Grand Prix Jeju and Grand Prix Budapest. She won more than 20 World Cup medals. Multiple champion of the Ukraine. She switched to Azerbaijan in 2017.
Nijat Shikhalizada is the 2005 World bronze medalist as youngest man ever. Shikhalizada was 2006 junior World Champion and 2005 European junior Champion. Won Tournoi de Paris in 2007 and Grand Prix Abu Dhabi (2012) and Tbilisi (2014). In 2015 he won the the Grand Slam of Baku and Grand Prix in Qingdao. He won bronze at the Grand Slam in Paris in 2017. He took bronze at the European Championships in Warsaw in 2017. He won gold at the European Open in Minsk in 2017.
Mammadali Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan won silver at the Grand Prix Jeju in 2014 U90kg and Grand Slam bronze in Baku in 2014 U81kg. He won the European Open in Prague in 2016 and silver in Casablanca. In 2013 he won bronze at the European Juniors in Sarajevo. In Ljubljana he won World bronze U81 in 2013. He won silver at the Grand Slam in Baku in 2017.
Tural Safguliyev won the Grand Prix in Baku in 2012 and European Open in Tbilisi in 2013 U81kg In 2016 he won bronze at the European Open in Sofia. In October he won bronze at the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi in 2016. In 2012 he won bronze at the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. He took multiple medals at Azerbaijan national championships. He won a silver medal at the European Open in Rome in 2017 and a silver medal at the Grand Prix in Cancun in 2017.
Ushangi Kokauri won a European U23 silver medal in 2014. In 2016 he won bronze at the Czech Open in Prague and gold at the Euro Open in Oberwart. He was 7th at the Grand Slam in Paris. He used to fight for Georgia. He won the African Open in Casablanca in 2016. He lost the final of the European Open in Minsk in 2017.
Judo is one of the most developed kinds of sport in Azerbaijan. National judokas successfully perform at the international championships.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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