Turkmen freestyle wrestlers won four medals – one gold and three bronze – at the Asian youth wrestling championships for athletes under 23, which concluded in Da Nang, Vietnam.
As already reported, the title of Asian champion in this age group was won for the first time by 19-year-old master of sports of international class from Ashgabat Alp Arslan Begenjov. The second-year student of the Turkmen state institute of finance achieved this remarkable success in the 86 kg weight category, in which 10 sportsmen competed for medals.
Our compatriots won bronze medals in the weight categories up to 61, 79 and 92 kg.
In the 61 kg weight class, in which 8 wrestlers competed, 18-year-old Azatberdi Ashyrgulyyev won bronze. In the quarterfinals, he won against Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan) 13:5, then in the semifinals he lost to silver medalist Deepak Deepaak (India) 0:10, and in the fight for bronze he defeated Hayden Ancheta (Philippines) 14:2. The second bronze medal went to Yukhan Dokturbek uulu (Kyrgyzstan). And the gold went to Nurdanat Aitanov (Kazakhstan), who defeated Indian D. Deepaak in the final.
In the 79 kg weight category, where eight athletes also competed for the Asian championship title, Soltan Sanjar Begenjov, a 21-year-old fourth-year student at the Turkmen state institute of inance, took third place on the podium. In the quarter-final match, he lost to the silver medalist, Erhan Abil (Kazakhstan), 2:12, and then in the fight for 3rd place, he defeated Van Nguyen (Vietnam), 14:3, and, as at the Asian U23 Championship of last year, was content with a bronze medal. The second bronze was won by Baytemir Tuleberdiyev (Kyrgyzstan). The champion was Chandermohan Chandermohan (India), who won a hard-fought victory over the Erhan Abil of Kazakhstan in the final – 7:6.
The third bronze medal in our team was won by 19-year-old Dovletgeldi Myradov. In the 92 kg weight class, where 7 athletes competed for the title of the strongest, the second-year student of the Turkmen state institute of architecture and construction won in the first round against Ganbat Tserenpuntsage (Mongolia) 6:0, but lost in the second to silver medalist Kumar Puneet (India) 0:10. In the semi-finals, D. Myradov lost to the Asian U23 champion Ulukbek Surombekov (Kyrgyzstan) in a tough fight – 6:7, and in the fight for bronze he won against Sadirdin Daminjonov (Uzbekistan) – 3:0.
Last year, at the Asian U23 Wrestling Championships in Vung Tau, Vietnam, the Turkmen team won four medals – one silver and three bronze. Alp Arslan Begenjov won silver in the 79 kg weight category, and bronze medalists were: in freestyle wrestling - student of the Turkmen state institute of architecture and construction Vatan Annaorazov (up to 74 kg) and student of the Turkmen state institute of finance Soltan Sanjar Begenjov (up to 86 kg), and in Greco-Roman wrestling - student of the Turkmen state institute of physical education and sports Didar Orazberdiyev (up to 72 kg).
