Turkmen sambo athletes won three more medals at the ongoing World Youth and Junior Sambo Championships in Indonesia. On the second day of competition, the Turkmenistan team added their first gold along with another silver and bronze medals.
The highest step of the podium was reached by Yslam Hemrayev, 18-year-old first-year student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, who became the junior world champion (U20) in combat sambo in the weight category up to 71 kg, contested by 8 athletes. On his way to gold, he secured three victories, consecutively defeating Azamat Temirbekov (Kyrgyzstan), Vadis Hambardzumyan (Armenia) – 7:0, including in the final against Russian Gadir Gashimov competing under the flag of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) – 8:0. The bronze medalists in this weight category were Vadis Hambardzumyan and Ukrainian Pavlo Napalkov.
The silver medal in sport sambo among junior women was won by Ykbal Saparova, 19-year-old third-year student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports. She achieved this success in the weight category up to 50 kg, contested by 10 athletes. In the quarterfinal, I. Saparova beat Shahzoda Sadullaeva (Uzbekistan) – 3:1, in the semifinal she defeated Tamar Sukhiashvili (Georgia) – 8:0, but in the final she lost to Sofie Soluianova, a two-time U-18 world champion from Russia competing under the FIAS flag, settling for second place. On the third step of the podium were Tamar Sukhiashvili and Romanian Maria Naidin.
The bronze medal for the Turkmen team was won by Ilshat Dovranov, 18-year-old athlete of the National Federation of Martial Arts of Turkmenistan. He earned a medal in sport sambo among youth men under 18 in the weight category up to 58 kg, which included 15 competitors. After losing in the round of 16 to Meirambek Miramgali from Kazakhstan – 0:2, Dovranov won in the first consolation round against Murat Orinov (Uzbekistan) – 2:0, and in the bronze medal bout defeated Eliott Feys (France) – 2:0, securing third place on the podium. The second bronze in this weight category went to Narek Simonyan (Armenia).
Thus, after two days of competition, Turkmen sambo athletes have won five medals – 1 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze. Earlier, on the first day of the World Youth and Junior Sambo Championships, two silver medals in combat sambo among juniors under 20 years were won by 18-year-old athlete of the National Federation of Martial Arts of Turkmenistan, Rasul Dzhabrailov (up to 64 kg), and 19-year-old second-year student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, Malikberdi Begiyev (up to 88 kg).
The World Championships in Indonesia brought together 383 athletes from 34 countries competing over three days for 37 sets of medals in sport and combat sambo among youth men and women (16-18 years) as well as junior men and junior women (18-20 years).
