Simon Clegg: I had opportunity of getting out to a number of venues and saw some fantastic sport at some amazing venues

Baku, June 24 AZERTAC A daily press conference has been held here with participation of Baku European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) chief operating officer Simon Clegg (GBR), karate bronze medallist Ilaha Gasimova and sambo silver medallist Nazakat Khalilova. Simon CLEGG on the sport competitions: "Yesterday, I had the opportunity of getting out to a number of venues and saw some fantastic sport at some amazing venues with some really strong images from Baku being played around the world." "Also we had the first official matches at European Games Park in basketball 3x3. I had the opportunity of going out there and I thought that was an incredibly exciting competition and very well attended." On spectator attendance: "Yesterday, we had 17,076 spectators attend 12 sessions at six different venues. Overall attendance continues to be very high, with 84% of tickets sold and people have watched some quite excellent sport." "A further 5,000 tickets were sold yesterday in addition to the 12,000 sold day the day before, and all the additional tickets put up for sale have now effectively been sold." "Today we are expecting about 22,000 spectators across all venues and up to 30,000 spectators tomorrow, not least because judo will start competition in the Heydar Aliyev Arena." On the participation of the international media in the European Games: "I can confirm this morning that 1,236 members of the Azeri and international media corps have been accredited for the Games. This is an outstanding result. We have had so much high-level interest, not only in Azerbaijan but also all over the world." Ilaha Gasimova on the Azerbaijan record in karate said: "We always had great results in karate, but it wasn't really recognised and appreciated, but now we have been able to take part in the competition and we got four gold and four bronze medals. It is a very good achievement and I would like to thank everyone who was supporting us, namely the president for his extended and special attention to this type of sport and the national karate federation." Nazakat Khalilova on sambo being included in the Baku 2015 programme said: "It is indeed a pleasant fact that sambo is a part of the European Games and we have the opportunity for women to perform and show their skills." On her performance: "I did my best to reach the final, but unfortunately I lost. My rival was very experienced and that's why I lost the final game and got only the silver medal." "I want to thank everyone who came to encourage us."