Azerbaijan's Rafael Aghayev lived up to his billing as the ‘Maradona’ of karate by winning the men’s 75kg kumite after compatriot Firdovsi Farzaliyev claimed the hosts' first European Games gold medal in the 60kg event on Saturday.
Amid a cacophony of noise inside the stunning Baku Crystal Hall on the shores of the Caspian sea four-times world champion Aghayev beat Italy’s Luigi Busa 1-0 in an evenly contested final.
Nine-times European champion Aghayev, idolised in Azerbaijan and dubbed the 'Maradona' of karate after Argentine football great Diego Maradona, had shouldered the hopes of his nation and was one of the Azeri's main gold medal hopes at the Games.
The home favourite overcame a shock pool-stage defeat to progress to the final where he eclipsed Farzaliyev who earlier claimed the hosts' first gold of the Baku games, defeating Italian Luca Maresca 4-0 in the final.
Farzaliyev was lucky to have got through his semi-final after Macedonian opponent Emil Pavlov was disqualified for a late foul when leading 4-2.
"In my motherland, in my first European Games, I have victory. I feel I dominated the final,” Farzaliyev told reporters.
"I feel very proud and I have to say that the home crown helped me a lot."
Turkey’s Erman Eltemur and Pavlov won the bronze medal bouts in the 75kg and 60kg events respectively.
Earlier, Ilaha Gasimova, with Azerbaijan’s first European Games medal of any kind, and Niyazi Aliyev won bronze in the women’s 55kg and men’s 67kg respectively.
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