Toghrul Asgarov: “Our team’s future is very bright”

Our women’s national wrestling team, which won 2 gold and 1 bronze medal at the U23 European Championship, returned home today.

A welcome ceremony was held at Heydar Aliyev International Airport for the national team, which broke its own record in terms of medal quality.

Toghrul Asgarov, Acting Head Coach:

“Our team is made up of juniors and young wrestlers. We are doing our best to prepare these athletes for the next Olympic Games and win medals. The future of our team is very bright. With the support of the federation, we are giving our maximum effort. Gunay is only 17 years old. She hasn’t yet competed in the U20 European and World Championships. She still has 3 years left in that age category and can compete in U23 for 6 more years. Qurbanova has already shown her potential and achieved success. We don’t want to rush our athletes. We are not planning to push them into the senior level too early. When the time comes, we will test them.”

Gunay Qurbanova, European Champion:

“The tournament was tough, intense, and very emotional. Despite that, I managed to gather my strength and win. I’m very happy. I wish every athlete the feeling of becoming a champion. I was preparing only for the gold medal. I did everything I could in training to ensure I’d be the one celebrating in the end. My final opponent was a highly decorated wrestler. But I believed I would win. Coach Toghrul gave me confidence and told me, ‘You are the strongest.’ I made it to the final and won.”

Elnura Mammadova, European Champion:

“I’m very happy to have become a champion. I’m grateful to the federation leadership and the coaching staff for their support. I had reached the finals twice before at the U23 European Championships but couldn’t win the gold. This was my last year in the U23 category, and I finally became the European champion. We will discuss with the coaches whether I’ll participate in the senior European Championship. If I do, I’ll do my best to raise our flag once again.”

Asmar Cankurtaran, European Bronze Medalist:

“The tournament was very tense and competitive because there are no weak opponents at the European Championship. Everyone is fighting to win. This is my third bronze medal. I can say this was the most difficult one. My coach calls me ‘the bronze girl,’ but I believe that one day I will turn that bronze into gold. I suffered a serious shoulder injury in the early minutes of the semifinal match. I couldn’t even raise my arm. But despite the pain, I stayed focused and won a medal. I sincerely thank our coaches Toghrul Asgarov, Agahuseyn Mustafayev, and Solmaz Adilova. My successes are still ahead.”