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National judoka leads world ranking

21 August 2019 11:35 (UTC+04:00)
National judoka leads world ranking

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Five Azerbaijani judokas are in the top 10 of the updated world ranking of International Judo Federation (IJF).

Rustam Orujov, the leader of the Azerbaijani judo team, the silver medalist of the European Games in Minsk and the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio, remains first in the updated ranking.

Orujov is leading in the -73 kg category. The national judoka has 6,159 points and is outstripping his nearest follower, Japanese Soichi Hashimoto, who is three times world champion.

The sixth position in the same weight category is taken by another Azerbaijani judoka Hidayat Heydarov, who has 5,001 points.

In the weight category of -90, Mammadali Mehdiyev went down by one position and took the fourth place. Mehdiyev has 4,820 points.

In addition, Elmar Gasimov is in the Top 10 with 3,537 points in the category of -100 kg. The only representative of the national team in the heaviest category of +100 kg, Ushangi Kokauri, is 15th with 3,215 points.

The only Azerbaijani female judoka in the world ranking is Iryna Kindzerska, who is fifth with 5,500 points.

IJF published the world ranking prior to the upcoming World Judo Championships, which will start in Tokyo, Japan, on August 23. In addition to the medals, license points will also be played at the World Championships in Tokyo.

Judo became an Olympic sport at the Tokyo Games in 1964, and thus became universal. The International Judo Federation today brings together 195 national federations and 5 continental unions.

Judo is one of the most developed sports in Azerbaijan, where the National Judo Federation was established in 1972. The Azerbaijani judo team is considered one of the best in the world.

The adult judo team of Azerbaijan made considerable progress in 2016. The team won 51 awards in competitions of various levels. The results showed that Azerbaijani judokas won 351 times out of 710 fights during the year.

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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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