The official website of the European Judo Union has published an article about Azerbaijani judoka Hidayat Heydarov as he produced a stunning performance to win the 2016 Junior European Championships.

The article says: "Hidayat HEYDAROV (AZE) gave a technically polished and controlled display in taking the gold medal in the -73kg category. The 19-years old judoka began the day as the highly rated number two seed but was immediately in trouble falling behind by yuko to Alexandru RAICU (ROU). “I was nervous and all I could think of was that I don’t want to lose”, remembers Heydarov. But the Azeri very quickly settled his nerves by throwing Raicu for Ippon. In the second round Heydarov faced Tomasz CSERNIAWSKI (POL), who gave Heydarov his closest contest, Czerniawski losing only by a score yuko. Thereafter, both, Daniel POWELL (GBR) and Akil GJAKOVA (KOS) were downed by ippon as Heydarov made his way to the final. So there it was, Heydarov stood one step away from a golden moment in Malaga.

The final contest brought about Heydarov’s supreme moment of his day. Not even his most ardent fans would have believed in his newaza skills, but he was constantly trying to execute a sangaku waza that his opponent, Giorgi KATSIASHVILI (GEO), managed to avoid. Heydarov settled any doubts about his newaza prowess when eventually he strangled his opponent to take the gold medal. “I am really happy to win a Junior European title. I won the Cadet Europeans on two occasions however this is extra special. For sure part of the reason is because I lost to Katsiashvili previously and so to beat him in the final of a Junior Europeans makes me really happy and satisfied. My next challenge will be to win the U23 Europeans in Tel Aviv in November.”