Gabala’s karate fighter Rafael Aghayev, challenging also for the Azerbaijan national team, won the bronze medal of the Paris Open Karate1 Premier League at the Pierre de Coubertin stadium, France. The red-black hero, 75 kg, faced Ken Nishimura from Japan in the final and lost a single point finishing second.

It's worth to notice Aghayev had won 7:2 on Ghulam-Abbas Saadi (Pakistan) and 2:0 on Enes Garibovic (Croatia). In the second fight, he got injured before beating also Yusei Sakiyama (Japan) by 5:0 with a charge by the referees after 1:1 draw. Then Aghayev gained victory on Ali Asker Asiabari (Iran) by 2:1.