Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The solemn opening ceremony of the second International Grand Prix Shotgun devoted to national leader Heydar Aliyev’s memory, was held in the country’s picturesque region of Gabala on May 16.

Many officials including Ismayil Ismayilov, the deputy minister of youth and sports, Hafiz Jafarov, the vice-president of the Shooting Federation and Tale Heydarov, the president of "Gabala” sports club attended the ceremony, which took place at the Heydar Aliyev Congress Center.

The speaker talked about the importance of the event, recalling the competition as the most significant after the European and World Championships.

The event is hosting about 150 best shooters from 17 countries including Azerbaijan, Australia, UK, Belarus, Hungary, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Cyprus, US, Kuwait, UAE, Finland, Iran, Italy, and Ukraine. The sportsmen will compete in such Olympic disciplines as trap, double trap and skeet.

The national team includes Olympic champion, Zemfira Meftahetdinova, as well as representatives of “Gabala” club multiple Azerbaijani champions: Emin Jafarov, Elvin Ismailov, national record holder Nurlana Jafarova, and other talented sportsmen such as Khanhuseyn Bagirov, Elchin Babayev, Pasha Ahadpur and others.

The competition, organized by the Shooting Federation, the Gabala sports club, the National Olympic Committee and the Youth and Sport Ministry kicked off on May 17 in trap shooting and archery complex in Gabala.

The fund price of the tournament which will last until May 24 stands at $96,500.

The first Heydar AliyevInternational Grand Prix Shotgun was held in Gabala in August 2014 with $81,000 prize fund.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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