Azerbaijani coin box enjoys 29 medals
By Nigar Orujova
The victorious march of the national team continues to bring joy to the whole nation, as the medal count rises to 29 as of Day 8 of the European Games in Baku.
Currently, the Azerbaijani coin box contains 12 gold medals, five silver, and 12 bronze medals. The host country follows Russia with a whopping 40 medals, 22 of which of gold. Hungary trails at third with 13 medals, 7 being gold.
On June 18,The Azerbaijani athletes added six medals to their overall count, including one gold, two silver and three bronze.
Azerbaijan’s taekwondo fighter Milad Beigi Harchegani has received the 12th gold medal for Azerbaijan after emerging victorious in the 80kg weight category.
Harchegani beat Serbian Damir Fejzic, Lutalo Muhammad from the UK, and Julio Ferreira from Portugal, to ultimately face and defeat Russian Albert Gaun 9-4 in the final.
Azerbaijan’s female taekwondo fighter Farida Azizova, also had a successful run, claiming a silver medal overall in the women’s 67 kg.
On her way to the final, Azizova defeated Joyce Van Baaren from the Netherlands, Nur Tatar from Turkey, and Elin Johansson from Sweden. She lost to Russian Anastasiia Baryshnikova 6-5 in the final to walk away with silver in the First European Games.
President Ilham Aliyev, the chairperson of the Baku 2015 First European Games Organizing Committee First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, and their family members watched the final matches of the skilled fighters in Baku’s Crystal Hall, the arena hosting the event.
President Aliyev presented the medals to the winners.
In gymnastics, Azerbaijani Oleg Stepko grabbed the silver medal in the men's individual all-around with 89.065 points. Ukrainian Oleg Verniaiev claimed gold with 90.332 points, while Russian Nikita Ignatyev won bronze with 87.365 points.
Mehriban Aliyeva participated in the award ceremony and presented the medals to the winners.
Azerbaijan’s wrestlers won three medals on the same day. Freestyle wrestlers Haji Aliyev (61kg), Ruslan Dibirgadzhiyev (70kg) and Jamaladdin Mahammadov (125kg), all secured bronze medals in their respective weight classes.
On June 19, Azerbaijan will compete in acrobatic, aerobic and rhythmic gymanstics, as well as the trampoline, archery, beach volleyball, boxing, diving, shooting, taekwondo, and volleyball.
The Baku 2015 European Games is an innovative competition that has gathered over 6,000 athletes from 50 countries to compete in 20 sports. Twelve sports will are official recognized as qualifiers for 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
The magnificent opening ceremony of the Games delighted Azerbaijanis and showcased the history of the country to the world on June 12. The European Games will conclude on June 28.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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