(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Laman Ismayilova read more Azerbaijani karate fighters will compete at the 2023 European
Games to be held in Poland from June to 2 July.
The national team includes Eminagha Guliyev (60kg), Tural
Aghalarzada (67kg), Farid Aghayev (75kg), Asiman Gurbanli (+84kg)
as well as female karate fighters Fidan Teymurova (50kg), Madina
Sadigova (55kg), Irina Zaretska (68kg) and Farida Aliyeva (+68kg), Azernews reports.
Around 96 karate fighters from 20 countries will compete in
individual kata and kumite in five different weight categories.
The 3rd European Games is a scheduled international sporting
event to be held in the cities of Krakow and Malopolska.
All Olympic sports held at the 2023 European Games will provide
qualification opportunities for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris,
France.
Note that the European Games were inaugurated in Azerbaijan in
2015. The multi-sport event featured almost 6,000 athletes from 50
countries competing in 30 sports, including 15 summer Olympic and 2
non-Olympic sports
Over the past few years, national karateka won prestigious
international tournaments, and European and World
championships.
Rafael Aghayev has managed to achieve all of the highest
sporting victories in karate; he is a multiple European and world
champion.
For outstanding sports achievements, he was repeatedly awarded
by the leadership of the National Olympic Committee, and the Youth
and Sports Ministry of Azerbaijan.
President of the World Karate Federation Antonio Espinosa called
him the "Diamond of the Karate World".
Irina Zaretska is also well-known for her numerous international
victories.
She won a gold medal at the Karate1 2014 Premier League in
Almere, a bronze medal at the World Karate Cup 2014, a gold medal
at the Premier League Karate1 2015 in Istanbul, a silver medal at
the Premier League Karate1 2017, etc.
In 2022, Azerbaijani karate fighters grabbed six medals
including three gold and three bronze at Karate1 Premier League in
Baku.
Eminaga Guliyev (60 kg), Irina Zaretskaya (68 kg), and Asiman
Gurbanli (+84 kg) enriched the country's medal haul with gold
medals.
Bronze medals came from Tural Aghalarzada (67 kilograms), Turgut
Hasanov (84 kg), and Murad Hajizada (+84 kg).
In February, Azerbaijani karate fighters captured five bronze
medals at the 2023 Karate1-Premier League event in Egypt.
Tural Aghalarzada (60 kg), Farid Aghayev (75 kg), Turgut Hasanov
(84 kg), Madina Sadigova (55 kg), and Irina Zaretska (68 kg) came
third in Cairo.
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