Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

An international water polo tournament was held in Mingachevir, Azerbaijan on May 4-7.

The tournament, dedicated to the 91st anniversary of National leader Heydar Aliyev was co-organized by Azerbaijan's Water Sports Federation and country's Youth and Sports Ministry.

The Presidential Cup was held in the "Kur" recreation center.

Two Azerbaijani teams - one senior and one junior- as well as teams from Georgia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Hungary attended the event which was a preparatory game for the European Games 2015 in which these teams, except Uzbekistan, will be presented.

Azerbaijan and Hungary met in the final game of the international tournament, held on May 7. Hungary defeated Azerbaijan in a very intense and interesting competition with the score of 10:9, gaining the tenth point in the last minute of the game.

Then the match for third and fourth places was held. It featured the game of the Georgian and Belarusian teams. The Georgian athletes won over Belarusian, and the match ended with a score of 19:6.

The awarding ceremony was held afterwards. The Hungarian team was awarded a cup, and the other winners were presented medals, diplomas and memorable gifts.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, President of Azerbaijan's Swimming Federation Khanlar Fatiyev congratulated the participants of the event, and wished them luck.

Last year, Azerbaijani team defeated the Russian team in the final segment of the game with a score of 16:13 (3:3, 5:4, 4:4, 4:2) and won the tournament. In the second match of the final round, the Belarusian team won against the Georgian team with a score of 17:9.

An international open swimming tournament dedicated to the memory of Heydar Aliyev will also be held in the Shirvan Olympic Complex on May 9-14.

Athletes from Russia, Georgia, Belarus, and Turkey are expected to participate in the tournament.