Malik Umayev couldn’t have dreamed of a worse draw for his first round in -73kg. The 23-year-old from Liège was in fact opposed to the world number 1 Hidayat Heydarov, reigning European champion. Umayev tried to show a lot of intensity from the start of the fight against a very experienced opponent, but took a blow to the ribs which handicapped him for the rest of the fight, even if he continued to fight.
The Belgian even managed to escape from a first immobilization of Heydarov but unfortunately, the Azerbaijanis attempted a second immobilization at the end of the fight which was fatal to Malik Umayev, who lost by ippon in his first fight for his second participation in the European Championships.
The Belgian was obviously disappointed at Kevin Paepen’s microphone, especially since he injured his ribs on the right side: “Not great… I think I tore a muscle. I’m going to go see the doctor, we’ll see. But there it doesn’t work“.
If the draw was not easy, the Liégeois does not want to hide behind it to explain his elimination in the first round: “Whether it’s the reigning European champion opposite or not, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s a European championship, everyone is strong. It didn’t go as planned. I didn’t expect the fight to turn out this way. You have to go coal now and come back next time“.
If he managed to get out of the first immobilization, the second was good for Heydarov even if Umayev knew that the Azerbaijanis was going to try to bring him to the ground: “He often tends to wear down his opponents on the ground and this time, he really wore me out on his first attempt, the arms, the forearms, the cardio. Let’s say that I was a little HS at that time and I was no longer really fresh. From the first I hurt myself and the second, as soon as I moved a little, it hurt. That’s why I didn’t move anymore“.
The time has therefore come for disappointment, but also and above all for care: “There is sure to be disappointment. That’s clearly not what I came here for. I was well prepared, but there are days without, that’s how it is“.
2023-11-04 14:15:50
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