Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation (ATF) held a meeting with the national team that won 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals in the European junior championship in Valletta, the capital of Malta.

According to information provided by ATF to apasport.az website, ATF vice-presidents Nagi Safarov and Niyamaddin Pashayev, member of the Board of Directors Vugar Mammadov, chairman of the Control and Inspection Committee Bakhtiyar Mirzaliyev, head coach of the national team Rashad Mammadov, coach Vurgun Jafarov and taekwondo players took part in the meeting. .

Nagi Safarov said that the coming year was a very successful year for Azerbaijani taekwondo, especially for the junior team: "In 2022, we had a world champion, the number of our European champions increased.

Compared to the senior and junior teams, you have the greatest success so far.

This means you are the team of the year.

I congratulate you and the teachers on this occasion.

Each of you has a great contribution to the success achieved.

Taekwondo players who did not get a place on the podium at the World Championship spoke at the European Championships.

I believe that you will not be satisfied with this and your success will continue."

The official of the Federation emphasized that the team members, who already speak for themselves in the world and European championships, should train more diligently and fulfill the tasks given by the teachers so that their names are always high.

Niyamaddin Pashayev called the successful return of the youth team from the competitions during the year a great pride for the federation.

He raised the flag of Azerbaijan high in the competitions and expressed his gratitude to the athletes who sang our national anthem.

Noting that bigger and more responsible tournaments are waiting for the team, which returned from the European championship after 15 years, the vice-president also gave advice to the taekwondo players: "This is a great success for the coach and your family.

You need to improve these titles that you have worked hard for.

For this, you need to work harder, and it is important to perform confidently in the next age groups.

I watched each of you fight.

You fought very well.

In order to advance to the end, the opponent must not have a difference.

If you want to be a champion, you have to be stronger than everyone else, you have to finish all your fights with victory and there should be no obstacles in front of you."

The head coach of the team, Rashad Mammadov, thanked the federation management for their trust in the team.

He said that it was useful to perform with a large team at the European Championship: "We had the opportunity to test every child we trusted.

The conditions created for the team also play a special role in our success.

Because we prepared very well for the race and everything was organized very well for us in Valletta.

We will try not to be satisfied with this and our success will be continuous."

Congratulating the team, Vugar Mammadov and Bakhtiyar Mirzaliyev also appreciated the team's successful return from the last competitions.

They noted that the important point is to continue this success and always stay high.

Afterwards, taekwondo players evaluated their performances and exchanged opinions about the fights.

It should be noted that in Valletta Zahra Isayeva (29 kg), Ilyas Hatamli (37 kg), Vasif Salimov (53 kg) won gold, Khuraman Javadzade (37 kg), Eljan Aliyev (65 kg) won silver, Mehdi Budagli (33 kg), Fuad Maharramli (45 kg) and Bahadur Dostuyev (49 kg) won bronze medals.

Nationally, with 8 medals, it was the 3rd place in Europe in both boys' and overall team scores.