Azerbaijan bag three golds on first day of European Games

Host nation Azerbaijan won three gold medals on the first day of competition at the European Games.

Firdovsi Farzaliyev defeated Italy's Luca Maresca in the men's Kumite 60kg category of the Karate competition, and later the 'Black Panther' Rafael Aghayev took down Luigi Busa in the 75kg class on Saturday, reports Xinhua.

Azerbaijan added third gold to the Baku 2015 medal count as Rasul Chunayev emerged victorious over Hungary's Balint Korpasi in the 71kg category of Greco-Roman wrestling.

Azerbaijan are now rank second in the overall medal table, behind Switzerland, whose cyclist Jolanda Neff became the first European Games champion in the women's mountain bike cross-country.

Ilaha Gasimova had won Azerbaijan's first medal of the Games, taking bronze in the women's Kumite 55kg category. The 22-year-old defeated Spain's Cristina Ferrer Garcia, with France's Emily Thouy winning the gold medal by beating Croatia's Jelena Kovacevic in the final.

Turkey's Serap Ozcelik won the fiercely contested women's Kumite 50kg title, defeating Austria's Bettina Plank. Alexandra Recchia of France took the bronze.