National table tennis players to join European Youth Championships

Azerbaijani table tennis players will participate in European Youth Championships, Azernews reports. The tournament will take place in Malmo, Sweden on July 12- 21.

A total of 12 table tennis players, including Marziyya Nurmatova, Aylin Askerova, Arzu Aslanova, Khadija Abilzadeh, Adil Ahmadzadeh, Rustam Hajili, Huseyn Eylazov and Elshan Huseynov, Shabnam Mansurova, Yagmur Mammadli, Onur Guluzadeh and Tunar Baghirov are gearing to represent the country in the competition.

The international referee of Azerbaijan, Zaur Mikayilov, will manage the games of the European Youth Table Tennis Championships.

The European Youth Table Tennis Championships are held among cadets (under 15) and juniors (under 18). The first edition of the tournament was held in 1955 in Stuttgart and since then is held yearly in most cases.

Currently, the championships include team, doubles and singles events for both genders and age classes as well as a mixed doubles event. There are also consolation events for players defeated in the qualifying stages and in the first round of the singles events.

The final ranking of the junior boys' and girls' team events determines the qualification for the same year's World Youth Championships.

Over the past years, Azerbaijani sportsmen have made significant strides in table tennis.

In 2023, Azerbaijani table tennis player Onur Guluzade captured a silver medal at the 23rd international tournament in memory of Nikolay Nikitin, held in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Also, the national female table tennis players brought home nine medals from the WTT Youth Contender held in Georgia.

Zemfira Mikayilova, Laman Abdulhamidova, Nigar Mahmudova, Khadija Abilzade, Marziyya Nurmatova, Aylin Asgarova, Arzu Aslanova, Aysu Aghayeva, Khadija Eylazova, and Yagmur Mammadli won two silvers and seven bronzes in the tournament.

In March, Azerbaijani table tennis players earned two medals at the Europe Youth Series tournament in 2024. The team claimed the silver and bronze medals in the mixed doubles pairs event among U13 and U15 athletes, respectively.