We will build the golden generation of judo; Minister's support for judo is valuable

The head of the Judo Federation emphasized that the support of the Minister of Sports helped us put the difficult years behind us and said: We will fulfill our promise and build the golden generation of Iranian judo.

According to the Mehr reporter, Arash Mirasmaili said at the annual general assembly of the Judo Federation, which was held this morning, Saturday, October 25, in the meeting hall of the Ministry of Sports, in the presence of Seyed Shervin Esbaghian, the vice president of championship and professional sports of the Ministry of Sports, he said: "Last year, we achieved the goals and plans we had, and we focused most on the basic ranks, where we also achieved good successes."

Stating that Iran's judo has been oppressed, he continued: "Because of the suspension, we went through four very difficult years, but during all this time, we had the support of the Ministry of Sports, and we were able to overcome this difficult situation and participated in various events."

The head of the Judo Federation stated that the peak of Judo's activities and successes last year was the participation in the Asian Youth Games and noted that: in this competition, our athletes shined and Mehsa Shakibaei, who is the new genius of Iran's women's judo, won a gold medal and three members of our boys' team also won a bronze medal. In addition, in Islamic countries, Merit Berbat won a bronze medal, which was the first medal of Iran's sports caravan.

Arash Mirasmaili continued by emphasizing that judo has had a successful year: according to the promise we made to the judo community, we were able to hire a high-level coach named Rashad Mammadov to lead Iran's national judo teams, who is a very high-level coach. Mamedov has been able to raise the level of Iranian judo, which is evident in the competition.

The President of the Judo Federation appreciated the support of Dr. Ahmed Danyamali, Minister of Sports and Youth, and noted: Fortunately, the Federation has a very good relationship with the high authority of the Ministry of Sports, and they have always supported the Federation. In this regard, he had two effective meetings with Rashad Mammadov, head coach of Iran's national judo teams, and analyzed and reviewed the plans of this head coach and supported them.

Saying that, unfortunately, in Iranian sports, success is measured by medals, Mirasmaili said about his assessment of the performance of Iranian judokas in the 20th edition of the Asian Games in Nagoya: I found the performance of the national team successful because they displayed high-level fights and were completely different from the previous editions.

He continued: The promise I made to the judo community was to create a golden generation for this discipline, thank God we took steps in this direction and sent a young team to Nagoya. Simra Khakkhah is 15 years old, Mahsa Shakibaei is 17 years old, Elias Parhizgar is 21 years old, and Amir Abbas Chupan is 20 years old. In Nagoya, our judokas fought with world and Olympic champions and deserved to win medals, as everyone saw that they took two bronze medals from Iran.

He continued: Unfortunately, judgments are based on results and medals. Sometimes the team gets a medal but weaknesses are hidden behind it. However, the federation and its programs have always been supported and accompanied by the heads of the delegations, for which I have a place to express my gratitude and appreciation to all the heads of the delegations.

Mirasmaili continued: The heads of the teams played a very influential role in the preparation of Iran's national judo teams and provided the best facilities to the national teams whenever we needed them.

The president of the Judo Federation continued: We have started a difficult path and in Nagoya we brought Judo to a level where everyone expected a medal. This means that Judo, which has been suspended and slapped, has been successful both from the inside and from the outside.

He continued: Hard years passed by us, but the fact that everyone expects a medal from judo after these conditions is very valuable for us. We fought for Iranian judo to go to Nagoya with a full quota. We were treated with disrespect and suffered a row, but we bought these with our hearts and kept our faces red with a slap, but we may be the only federation that started national team camps three days after the Asian Games.

Arash Mirasmaili emphasized: "It is very difficult to build a judo player to reach the championship stage, but we will overcome this difficulty and try to participate in the future events with authority and make our dear Iran proud."

The head of the Judo Federation pointed out the good relationship with the head of the World Federation and said: When Mr. Dunyamali, as the Minister of Sports, meets with the head of the World Federation during his trip and defends Iran's judo, it is very valuable and important for us, and it raises the glory of Iran's judo in the world.

He continued: Due to Dr. Dunyamali's support, we were able to have a very good relationship with the head of the World Federation and get valuable points for Iranian judo that can help us in implementing our plans.

Arash Mirasmaili complained about some unkindness against judo inside the country and said: When the Iranian girl judoka won the gold medal last year, they did not congratulate us, of course we do not need these congratulations, and the fact that the judo community and the heads of the teams notice these successes is valuable for us.