According to IRNA, the Judo Raad air defense team of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran managed to defend its championship title in the Premier League.
In an interview with IRNA on Monday evening, Mohammad Khajeh Bafghi stated: “The Raad air defense team became the champion of the country’s judo super league for the second year in a row.” It is hard to be a hero, but it is much harder to stay a hero. With the zeal of the players, management and staff towards the team, this good result was repeated for another year. The team consisted of Payvar and Army Air Defense personnel and a number of nationals. We kept the shape of last season.
He pointed out: According to the calendar of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces team should have been sent to the World Championships of the World Armies in France; Therefore, with the efforts of the Armed Forces Judo Board, we had suitable camps from the beginning of the year, and immediately after the end of the previous league, we started new camps and were in the camp until November.
“We sent a good team to the World Army Championships,” said the head coach of the Army Air Defense Judo Team. After that, we announced our readiness to participate in the Kurash League competitions. Last week, in March, we managed to become the runner-up in the first appearance in the Kurash Premier League. After the competitions I mentioned, by testing the mistakes and eliminating the strengths and weaknesses, we sent a good team to the Judo Premier League to win the championship once again.
He spoke about how the league will be held this year: 9 teams participated in the Judo Super League of the country’s clubs. Fewer teams were present in the league than last year, but in terms of quality, national judokas and title players were present during this period.
Khajeh Bafghi continued: “New sponsors had arrived and the amount of contracts was much better than last year and the level of games was better.” Sending champion teams to international tournaments can be a good thing.
He said: “Because we became the runner-up in the Kurash League, we will be present at the World Club Cup next year. With these zealous children, I hope we can return with a good hand full of Guam and be proud of our beloved country and the Army Air Defense Force.
Khajeh Bafghi said about the performance of Raad Padafand Club: “This year, we were present at the highest level in 13 disciplines, including Judo and Kurash.” Under the management of Colonel Mohammad Sanei, we are looking for the best title in all fields such as judo and kurash. The main structure of the team consists of hero soldiers. The judo team was no exception. Our team managed to achieve good titles with the camps and good facilities it had. This championship was due to the proper preparation and good people we had.
The head coach of the army air defense team, Raad, acknowledged about the final game and the confrontation with Mes Kerman: We competed with the Mes Kerman team in the final. The opponent was a private team and he could afford it. Many nationally-clad and titled judokas were on the team. Mohammad Mohammadi Barimanloo, who is the third in the world; Vahid Nouri became the Paralympic champion this year; Khojasteh was present in this team with a history of winning the Olympic quota. Our work was very hard.
He said: Mes Kerman ascended as the first team and easily defeated our opponent in the final last year with a result of five to two. However, we had faith in our people and we were able to excel with the right elbow. Mes Kerman was also shocked by our elbow and very soon we were three to zero ahead and finally we won with a score of four to three. Our team was united and united. Fortunately, we defended the championship title.
Khajeh Bafghi stated in the end: 1400 was a very good year for Judo Raad, the army’s air defense. At first we became army heroes. Then we became champions of the Armed Forces and went to the World Army Championships, where I was the head coach. I had a good relationship with the children and that helped them get to know each other better.
He added: “After the World Army competitions, we went to the Kurash League and became the runner-up in our first appearance.” Then we defended the championship title in the Judo Premier League. I hope this process will be repeated next year. We create good service conditions for athletes. The management of the club strives to spend 2 years of the best years of sports for athletes without interruption. From now on, we will start our work for the third consecutive championship in the Judo Premier League and the hat-trick championship.