Winners of Chovgan competition for President Cup announced

/By AzerTac/

By Amina Nazarli

The Chovgan competition for the President Cup at the Republican Equestrian Tourism Center of Azerbaijan’s Sheki region came to an end on December 23.

The 10th annual tournament brought together 24 teams from different regions of the country including Baku, Sheki, Yevlakh, Agjabedi, Agdam, Agstafa, Balakan, Barda, Goranboy, Goygol, Khachmaz, Ismayilli, Gazakh, Gabala, Lachin, Oguz, Samukh, Shamikir, TerTer, Tovuz and Zagatala.

In the final, Agjabedi and Serhedchi teams took the field to determine the winner. The final match was exciting from start till end as both teams gave their all to gain victory.

The Serhedchi players became the winners of the tournament and triumphed with the score of 7-0. The third place went to Polad team, which defeated Agstafa team with the score of 1:0.

During the six-day tournament, the participants also competed in “Surpapag” and “Yaylig” games.

Balakan team defeated its rival Lachin with the score of 5:2, and won the title of winner in "syurpapag" game.

Teams of Kohli and Agdam competed for the third place, where the latter won with the score of 6:1.

Sheki team became the winner of “papag” game, Gazakh won “baharband,” Khachmaz took first at “yaylig” game, and Zagatala won “test of endurance.”

Chovgan is the original form of the polo sporting game that dates back thousands of years. It is still played in Azerbaijan.

The game included in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO is a traditional horse-riding game played on a flat, grassy field by two competing teams of players mounted on Karabakh horses. Each team has five riders, with two fullbacks and three forwards.

The game starts at the centre of the field and players use wooden mallets to try to drive a small leather or wooden ball into their opponents’ goal. The game is interspersed with instrumental folk music called ''janghi''. Chovqan players and trainers are all local male farmers and skilled riders.

They traditionally wear large astrakhan hats, long tight-fitting coats with a high waist, and special trousers, socks and shoes. People of all ages come to watch this traditional game and to support their teams.