Veten.be

Kenan K., Lala M.
22 June 07, Amsterdam

Zabit, first of all we would like to express our gratitude for carving out some of your time for an interview with us. Secondly, we would like to congratulate you on your 23rd birthday. We wish you strong health and further success in your sporting endeavors.

Can you please share some information about yourself?

I am Zabit Samadov. I was born in Georgia, but I am of Azerbaijani origin. Our family moved to Belarus when I was 10, and it’s already 13 years that we reside there.

Could you elaborate about your family?

I live with my parents in Belarus. I am not married, but plan to get married

in the next 1-2 years. My great desire is to marry an Azerbaijani girl.

Please tell us about your sports career.

At first I wanted to play soccer but my father subscribed me to kickboxing section of sports club. My first kickboxing teacher was Azerbaijani, his name was Aziz Dursunov. He trained me for a year and a half. When I was ten I started to train at a Belarusian fight gym named “Chinuk” that is considered one of the top three fighting gyms in Europe. From the moment I started my training I had the opportunity to train with a famous Belarusian K1 fighter Alexey Ignashov. I was proud to train with him, and I wanted to be just as good as he was. I started to participate in European championships around age 15, after 5 years of training. At fifteen, I won the European championship and at 16 I became the champion of the world tournament. I won the world championship four times already. Before I had Belarusian citizenship I could not participate in world tournament. After I finally got my citizenship, I won the world tournament 4 times. If not for the citizenship problem I probably would have won the world championship 14 times. (laughing – K.K.) I started training at the same level as Alexey Ignashov at fifteen and became a member of the national team. One of my biggest wishes was to participate in K1. And in August, 2006 I started performing in K1 fights. So far I had 13 fights, all of which I won, six of them with a knockout. Tomorrow there is going to be another important fight for me, which I want to win.

You represent Belarus on the ring, but you always have Azerbaijani flag somewhere on your cloth. Can you explain that?

I live in Belarus, but I never forget that I am Azerbaijani. Everyone in Belarus knows that I am Azerbaijani, and I represent Belarusian “Chinuk” gym, not Belarus itself. Although I do not have Azerbaijani citizenship(I have Georgian citizenship) I try to represent myself as Azerbaijani everywhere I go.

How are the relations between Azerbaijanis and the native people?

The relations are very friendly. Azerbaijanis in Belarus are very well integrated into society.

Being an Azerbaijani, would you like to represent Azerbaijan on those tournaments?

I would love to, but there are many nuances in this matter. Interested people in Azerbaijan should first express their interest in me as a fighter. Everything that I have achieved so far, is due to Belorussia, its gyms and its trainers. I live in Belorussia and I am grateful for their hospitality.

Nevertheless, I hope to represent Azerbaijan sometime in future. I have to achieve good results in order for Azerbaijan to show interest in me.

Did you ever face discrimination as a representative of another nation in Belarusian sports?

No, I have never faced any discrimination. I was the best in my class from the beginning of my sports career but the issues with my passport prevented my participation in European and world tournaments. I was able to participate in European championship first time in 2005.

Are there many Azerbaijani sportsmen in Belarus? Do you keep in touch with them
Of course, we are always in touch and spend time together. I have several Azerbaijani wrestler friends and many others, who after seeing my performance in K1 also want to participate in that tournament. There are definitely some prospective Azeri sportsmen.

Is your social environment predominantly Belarusian or Azerbaijani?

I prefer Azerbaijani social environment, even though it is not always the best one.

What are your further career plans in terms of sports?

My nearest plans are to perform well in tomorrow’s tournament and to sign a contract with K1 federation.

Do you wish to popularize your school of sport in Azerbaijan?(i.e. open your own gym etc.)

I would love to, but it all depends on many conditions and available resources.

Zabit, can you please express you opinion on the Coordinating Council of Azerbaijani Youth in the Benelux (CCAYB)?

You are doing a very great job. Nothing could be better than the gathering of young Azerbaijanis to make our motherland, our country known in Europe. I hope one day we are going to see people respond and react positively when they hear the name Azerbaijan, Inshallah. I would like it to be that way not only in sports but in all aspects of life.

Zabit, once again thank you for carving out some time for an interview with us. We wish you all the luck tomorrow in the ring and in general life. We all are your great fans. You can see now that you have admirers in Holland and Belgium too. Best of luck. Good bye.

Thank you and good bye to you too.