Ilham Aliyev watched Greco-Roman wrestling competition of the London 2012 Games

The competitions held on 5 August of the London 2012 Games proved successful for Azerbaijani athletes. 5 August saw the start of the wrestling competition.

In order to support Azerbaijani sportsmen, President of Azerbaijan and of the National Olympic Committee Ilham Aliyev, together with members of his family, came to London to watch the Greco-Roman wrestling competition.

The first Azerbaijani sportsman to start the Greco-Roman wrestling competition was Rovshan Bayramov in the weight category of 55 kilograms. Bayramov’s first opponent was Russia’s Mingiyan Semenov. The bout of last sixteen was successful for our world champion. Winning the first period with a score of 1-0, Rovshan won the second period with the same score and advanced into the next stage. His next opponent was America’s Thomas Spencer Mango. The first period was quite easy for the Azerbaijani wrestler and ended with a score of 4-0. The second period was just as easy – Rovshan won it with the same score. As a result, our athlete qualified for the next stage.

In the quarterfinal Rovshan Bayramov was faced with China’s Li Shujin. The Azerbaijani wrestler repeated his success of the first two bouts. By winning three points in the first period and two in the second, Bayramov advanced to the semifinals. On the way to the final Rovshan Bayramov wrestled with a representative of the Republic of Korea, Gyujin Choi. In the first period Bayramov did not let his opponent win a point on the ground, thus winning a point himself. In the second, Gyujin Choi was on the ground. After skillfully performing a cart-wheel in this position, our champion reached the final where he was up against Iran’s Mohammad Soryan. After narrowly losing the final bout, our athlete had to remain content with a silver medal. Thus, as was the case in the Beijing Olympics, Rovshan Bayramov finished the London Games with a silver medal.

Another Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestler, Emin Ahmadov, won a bronze medal in the weight category of 74 kilograms. According to the draw, Emin started his first Olympic Games with the stage of last sixteen, where he was faced with Croatia’s Neven Zugaj.

The fact that his fellow compatriot Rovshan Bayramov had advanced into the next stage gave Emin Ahmadov additional strength. As a result, the Azerbaijani wrestler beat the representative of Croatia in both periods and advanced into the quarterfinals. At the next stage Ahmadov’s rival was a much stronger athlete. Despite this, our young wrestler proved stronger than Georgia’s Zurabi Datunashvili. Despite losing the first period, Ahmadov got the upper hand in the following two and reached the semifinals. Unfortunately, our athlete failed to reach the final. Nevertheless, he finished the Games with a medal. In the bronze medal bout Emin Ahmadov was up against Aliaksandr Kikiniou from Belarus. In the first period of the intense bout his rival was ahead, but in the following periods Emin gave him no chance. As a result, by beating his opponent in the last two periods, the Azerbaijani wrestler won the bronze medal. This was the third medal of the Azerbaijani national team in the London Games.

At the end of the Greco-Roman wrestling competition in 55 and 74 kg weight categories, President Ilham Aliyev met with the head coach of the Azerbaijan national team in Greco-Roman wrestling, Saleh Bora.

The President praised the performances of Azerbaijani sportsmen and asked the head coach to communicate his congratulations to Rovshan Bayramov and Emin Ahmadov.

In the boxing competitions of the 30th Olympic Games in London, one member of the Azerbaijan national team has already guaranteed himself a medal. The silver medalist of the world championship in the 91 kg weight class, Teymur Mammadov, beat the Belarusian athlete Sergei Korneev in the quarterfinal and advanced into the semifinals. In the first round our countryman looked better than his opponent and gained a five-point advantage - 9:4. In the second and third rounds though, T. Mammadov lost the advantage, but eventually won. The bout ended in a draw - 19:19, but by the decision of the judges Teymur Mammadov was announced the winner and secured himself at least a bronze medal.

Azerbaijan’s only representative in the women's boxing competition, Yelena Vystropova, had to resign herself to a defeat in the very first bout. The Azerbaijani sportswoman in the weight category of 75 kg lost at the hands of Nigeria’s Edith Ogoke with a difference of two points.