Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

The 16th Summer Paralympic Games solemnly opened in Tokyo on August 24.

Some 36 paralympians are representing Azerbaijan in 6 sport competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic Games.

Azerbaijani paralympians took part in the opening ceremony. Their uniforms were decorated with a Khari bulbul badge.

Khari bulbul flower badge symbolizes Azerbaijan's victory in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

The flower Khari bulbul grows only in Shusha. The shape of the flower resembles a nightingale. "Khar" means "thorn" in Azerbaijani, and "bulbul" means "nightingale".

If you look at the flower closely, you can easily see three petals spreading in three different directions. Two of them are like wings, and the third one in the middle is shaped like a bird’s head.

Another legend tells about the Khan of Karabakh and his daughter Aghabeyim agha Javanshir.

After the khan's daughter was married to an Iranian king, she began to miss her homeland.

To help her cope with her yearning for home, the shah built a garden that included all the different flowers of Karabakh. Despite his best intentions, the Khari bulbul never grew there.

The Azerbaijani delegation was headed by President of the National Paralympic Committee Ilgar Rahimov and Secretary General Kamal Mammadov. The athlete Olokhan Musayev carried the Azerbaijani flag at the opening ceremony.

Samir Nabiyev, Elvin Astanov,Olokhan Musayev, Said Najafzadeh, Kamil Aliyev, Orkhan Aslanov, Elena Chebanu, Elmir Jabrayilov, Yulia Yanovskaya, Lamia Veliyeva, Hamid Heydarli and Orkhan Gasimov will compete for the medals in athletics.

The judo team includes Shahana Hajiyeva (-48 kg), Besti Safarova (-52kg), Sevda Veliyeva (-57 kg), Khanum Huseynova (-63 kg), Dursadaf Karimova (+70 kg), Vugar Shirinli (-60 kg), Namig Abasli (-66 kg), Ramil Gasimov (-73 kg), Huseyn Rahimli (-81 kg), Kanan Abdullahanli (-100 kg), Ilham Zakiyev (+100 kg).

Some 4 taekwondo fighters will represent Azerbaijan in Tokyo: Royala Fataliyeva (-49 kg), Aynur Mammadova (+58 kg), Imameddin Khalilov (-61 kg), Abulfaz Abuzarli (-75 kg), while the swimming team includes Raman Saleh, Veli Israfilov and Dana Shandibina.

In the powerlifting, Azerbaijan will be represented by Parvin Mamedov (-49 kg), Nurlan Babadjanov (-97 kg), Elshan Huseynov (-107 kg) and Shamo Aslanov (+107 kg).

The shooting team includes Elena Taranova and Kamran Zeynalov.

This competition is the seventh for the Azerbaijani Paralympic Movement, which made its debut at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta.

Formerly scheduled to take place in 2020, the Summer Paralympics was postponed amid coronavirus pandemic.

This year marks the second time Tokyo has hosted the Paralympics, as they were first hosted there in 1964 alongside the 1964 Summer Olympics.

So far, national paralympians have won 38 medals at the Paralympic Games - 9 gold, 18 silver and 11 bronze.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani athletes have won seven medals at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Karate fighters Rafael Aghayev (75 kg), Irina Zaretska (+61 kg) and freestyle wrestler Haji Aliyev (65 kg) enriched the country's medal haul with silver medals.

The bronze medals came from judoka Irina Kindzerska (+78 kg), boxer Alfonso Domínguez (81 kg), Greco-Roman wrestler Rafig Huseynov (77 kg) and wrestler Maria Stadnik (50 kg).

The US team won the overall medal standings with 39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze medals. The Chinese team came second, while Japan ranked third.

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