18 medals – this is the result of the performance of Turkmen sambo wrestlers at the Asian and Oceanian Championship that ended in Tashkent.
The competition brought together more than 600 athletes from 20 countries who fought for the title of the strongest in sport sambo among cadets (under 16 years old), boys and girls (under 18 years old), juniors (under 20 years old) and adults, as well as in combat sambo among juniors, junior girls, men and women. Awards were also contested by masters (veterans), as well as blind men in the SVI-1 (totally blind) and SVI-2 (visually impaired) classes.
The Turkmen distinguished themselves in both the sports and combat versions of sambo among juniors, men and women, as well as masters, winning a total of 3 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze medals.
The first to compete for awards were men and women in sports and combat sambo. In this type of program, as already reported, our compatriots won 10 medals - 2 silver and 8 bronze.
The second step of the podium was taken by Muhammetmyrat Babekov (weight category up to 58 kg, 6 participants) in sport sambo and Bezirgen Begenjov (up to 98 kg, 5 participants) in combat sambo, and the third place went to representatives of sport sambo Sapar Dovletov (up to 64 kg, 8 participants), Aziza Nazarova (up to 50 kg, 5 participants), Zuleyha Hudayberdiyeva (up to 54 kg, 5 participants), Merjen Jorayeva (up to 59 kg, 4 participants) and masters of combat sambo Yusup Tanryberdiyev (up to 58 kg, 5 participants), Mergen Durdyyev (up to 64 kg, 9 participants), Zyba Orunova (up to 59 kg, 4 participants) and Maysa Gupbykova (up to 65 kg, 4 participants).
Juniors brought seven medals to the team of Turkmenistan - 2 gold, 4 bronze and 1 bronze.
The highest awards in the junior age category were won in combat sambo by Alyhan Aydogdyyev (up to 58 kg, 4 participants) and Yslam Hemrayev (up to 71 kg, 5 participants). On the way to this success, A. Aydogdyyev won in the semi-finals against Askar Kalybek (Kazakhstan) - 10:1 and in the finals he defeated Asilbek Urolova (Uzbekistan) - 6:0. And Y. Hemrayev was stronger than Azamat Temirbekov (Kyrgyzstan) in the semi-finals and in the finals he beat Akbarali Sadullayev (Uzbekistan) - 8:0.
Silver medals in the same type of program were awarded to Seydylla Akmammedov (up to 64 kg, 5 participants) and Malikberdi Begiyev (up to 88 kg, 5 participants), and in sports sambo - to Babamyrat Bayramov (up to 58 kg, 9 participants) and Ykbal Saparova (up to 50 kg, 4 participants). Bronze medal in the sports sambo tournament was awarded to Merjen Jorayeva (up to 59 kg, 4 participants), who became a two-time bronze medalist of the Asian and Oceanian Championship.
In the final event of the competition, which was not included in the overall medal count, the title of champion of Asia and Oceania among masters in the age category M-2 (35-39 years) was won by the head coach of the Turkmenistan national sambo team Nurhoja Taumanov. He achieved this success in the weight category up to 71 kg, defeating Isroil Butayev (Uzbekistan) in the final.
In the team count, the Turkmenistan national team took 5th place among 20 teams, behind representatives of Mongolia (36 medals - 4 gold, 9 silver and 23 bronze), Kyrgyzstan (71 - 4, 22, 45), Kazakhstan (93 - 27, 30, 36) and Uzbekistan (99 - 58, 17, 24).
Last year, at the Asian and Oceania Championships in Macau, Turkmen sambo wrestlers won 21 medals. With 2 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze medals, they took third place in the team standings, behind representatives of Kazakhstan (15 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze) and Uzbekistan (8 gold, 1 silver and 10 bronze medals).
