Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

National karate fighter Rafael Aghayev became a world champion for the fifth time at the Karate World Championships in Linz, Austria, after he defeated his Hungarian, Dutch, Uzbek, Armenian, Iranian and Egyptian rivals.

The 31-year-old Azerbaijani sportsman secured the title in the 75g weight category after winning over Egyptian Omar Abdel-Rahman (4:1).

Aghayev was never faced with a question to go in for sports or not, since his father was professional soccer player. His oldest brother Ruslan began to train in judo, while another brother Rustam is a boxer.

Despite being just seven-years-old Aghayev was playing football and at the same time began karate trainings. Already at his first karate championship of the Republic, Rafael won an overwhelming victory over all his rivals.

Aghayev managed to achieve all of the highest sporting victories in karate; he is multiple European Champion and repeated World Champion.

For outstanding sports achievements, Aghayev repeatedly has received awards from the leadership of the National Olympic Committee, the Youth and Sport Ministry of Azerbaijan Republic.

Currently Rafael Aghayev is captain of Azerbaijan’s national team, and continues to train and perform under the guidance of new senior coach Rahman Hatamov.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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