Oyan Nezeriani: “We do our best to achieve the best result in every competition”

September 2, 2025

Head coach of the Azerbaijan national beach wrestling team, Oyan Nezeriani, gave an interview:

– How would you assess the Azerbaijan Championship held in July and its results?

– After a two-year break, the Azerbaijan Championship was held again. The tournament took place in two age categories – U17 and seniors. Unlike previous editions, for the first time, winners in women’s beach wrestling were also determined. A large number of participants joined the competition, and our expectations were met. The main goal of organizing this championship was to start early preparations for next year’s Youth Olympic Games and to form a broad base of wrestlers for the national team, involving them in the training process and getting ready for upcoming competitions.

– Immediately after the championship, you started a training camp. How did the preparation process go? Is the team fully ready for the competitions to be held in the next two months?

– Right after the championship, we brought the wrestlers into the national team. We began with daily training sessions. With the newcomers, we started by introducing the rules, training styles, and discipline of beach wrestling. Then we launched the first training camp of the year. At the initial stage, we focused on general physical and functional preparation. Although the camp concluded on August 30, our training will continue until the competitions. First, with the senior squad, we will travel to Casablanca, Morocco, to compete in a World Series stage. Immediately after returning, we will begin the final training camp for the U17 World Championship. At this stage, we will work more on agility and tactics. We still have time, and we will try to improve further and deliver the best possible performance at the competition.

– The number of participants in international beach wrestling tournaments is increasing year by year, which makes the competition even tougher. What are your expectations in such a competitive environment?

– I am not in favor of making big claims before competitions. Each tournament has its own specifics. In any case, we do our best to achieve the best results in every competition, and we prepare accordingly. The outcomes we achieve and the medals we win will be determined by the conditions on the competition day – the performances of our wrestlers and their opponents. We hope to achieve strong results at the U17 World Championship. Even though we will take part in the World Series with a smaller squad, we are still candidates for medals there as well.