Azerbaijani yachtsmen win International Sailing Tournament

By Azernews

By Rasana Gasimova

Azerbaijani junior athletes grabbed two medals at the international sailing tournament in Turkey. This is the first that Azerbaijani athletes gained victory in this sport.

Ayla Babayeva won a gold medal in the women's group in the Laser 4.7 class, while Murad Ismayil won a silver medal in the younger age group. Ismayil Karimov took the 4th place in the competition, local media reported.

The competition was preparatory to the Optimist World Championship to be held on Lake Garda in Italy in July 2020, the Laser 4.7 European Championship to be held Portugal in April 2020, and the Optimist World Championship to be held in Bodrum in 2021.

Note that in February 2018, another Azerbaijani athlete, Fidan Agazade, won the bronze medal of the international sailing tournament in the Optimist boat class among 12-year-old girls held in Oman.

The Sailing Federation of Azerbaijan was created in 2000. Since 2014, SFA is a member of the World Sailing and European Sailing Federation (EUROSAF).

The main goal of SFA is the constant strengthening of the material and technical base, the formation of the coaching staff, and attraction of new athletes to the team. The federation currently has two teams in the classes Optimist and Laser. Two head coaches invited from abroad work in these classes. Training of teams is carried out with the help of the invited foreign sports managers and specialists.

The federation aims to support the development of sailing sport in Azerbaijan, to increase the interest to this sport by means of its promotion among the country's population and to create favorable conditions on preparation of the high level athletes for participation in competitions.