Muminjan Arzykulov, a 28-year-old athlete from the Lebap velayat, won his second gold medal at the World Combat Sambo Championships, bringing the Turkmenistan national team its second gold medal at the 50th World Championships in Tashkent. The competition took place under the arches of the «Game Sports Arena» in the Olympic village of the Uzbek capital. Earlier, Sanjarbek Avazberdiyev, who won the 64 kg weight category, celebrated the Turkmen school of combat sambo's triumph on the Tashkent mat. In honour of the success of our athletes, the National Anthem of Turkmenistan was played twice at the largest sports forum with the participation of 508 athletes from 101 countries.
Muminjan's path to gold in the 71 kg weight class among 27 of the world's strongest athletes required five uncompromising fights. In the opening round, the draw brought him together with a key rival, 29-year-old Russian Rolan Zinnatov (2023 European Champion and two-time World Cup winner in 2024 and 2026). Two years after the 2024-World Championship final in Astana, where the Turkmen fighter won with a score of 5:0, Arzykulov again proved stronger, defeating Zinnatov in a tough fight with an advantage of one point (1:0).
In the 1/8 finals, Muminjan confidently defeated 33-year-old bronze medalist of the 2023-World Cup in Serbia, Omar Reguigui from Tunisia, with a score of 4:0, and in the quarterfinals, he defeated 31-year-old bronze medalist of the 2026 European Championship, David Van Doorn from the Netherlands, 2:0.
The semi-final stage gave the fans a spectacular revenge. Arzykulov faced 30-year-old 2025 world champion Niyethan Toleuhan from Kazakhstan, to whom Muminjan lost in the final of last year's world championship in Bishkek. This time, the Turkmen sambist left his opponent without chance and advanced to decisive bout of the tournament.
In the main fight for gold, Arzykulov faced 28-year-old Ukrainian master Andrey Kucherenko – the 2024 European Champion and the 2024 World Cup winner. Their previous meeting at the 2024 World Championships in Kazakhstan ended with a tied score of 4:4, with the decision of the judges in favour of the Turkmen athlete. In Tashkent, Muminjan put an end to this confrontation, winning a convincing 4:2 victory.
Muminjan Arzykulov has been practicing sambo for over ten years. Prior to this, he specialised in sport sambo, in which he won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup in Kyrgyzstan. Having switched to combat sambo in 2024, he immediately made history by becoming the first world champion of Turkmenistan in this martial art. Having won silver in 2025 and a second gold in 2026, he cemented the reputation of the Turkmen school of sambo, which was established by Muhammet Kossekov, the 2022 world champion in sport sambo.
Muminjan successfully combines his athletic achievements with teaching, working as a sambo coach at the 5th sports school in the village of Garlyk, Koytendag etrap, of the Main directorate of physical culture and sports of the Lebap velayat.
