Turkmen sambo wrestlers brought home eight medals of varying denominations from the World Youth Championships held in the Indonesian city of Bogor on the island of Java.
371 athletes from 34 countries participated in the competition. A total of 37 medal events were contested in sport and combat sambo among boys and girls (16-18 years old) and juniors (18-20 years old). Each participant could compete in only one discipline and weight category.
After three days of the tournament, our compatriots won two gold, three silver, and three bronze medals.
As previously reported, on the first day of competition, two silver medals in combat sambo were won by 18-year-old Rasul Jabrayilov, a representative of the National Martial Arts Federation of Turkmenistan (up to 64 kg weight class), and 19-year-old Malikberdi Begiyev, a second-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports (up to 88 kg).
On the second day of competition, Team Turkmenistan added its first gold medal, as well as another silver and bronze medal. Islam Hemrayev, an 18-year-old first-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports, took the top spot, becoming the world champion among juniors (under 20) in the combat sambo category in the up to 71 kg weight class. In sport sambo, Ykbal Saparova, a 19-year-old third-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports, won silver in the junior women's category (up to 50 kg), while Ilshat Dovranov, an athlete from the National Martial Arts Federation of Turkmenistan, won bronze in the junior men's category (up to 18 years old) (up to 58 kg).
On the final day of the world championship, the Turkmen team added three more medals to their five – one gold and two bronze.
Alihan Aydogdyyev, a soldier from military unit 69109 of the Security Service of the President of Turkmenistan, won our team's second gold medal in junior combat sambo. In the 58 kg weight class, where seven athletes competed for the world champion title, he defeated Ahmet Aliyev (Kyrgyzstan) 8-0 in the first bout, and then defeated Tigran Grigoryan (Armenia) 6-1 in the semifinals.
However, the final bout, in which A. Aydogdyyev was scheduled to face Artyom Nesterov of Russia, representing the International Sambo Federation (FIAS), was cancelled due to an error by the organizers. The local organizing committee moved the start time of the finals an hour earlier without notifying all participants. In this extraordinary situation, International Sambo Federation President Vasiliy Shestakov decided to recognise both athletes as winners and award them gold medals. The decision was supported by the national delegations. Bronze medals were awarded to Armenian sambo wrestler Tigran Grigoryan and Asilbek Urolov from Uzbekistan.
The final two bronze medals for the Turkmenistan team in sport sambo were won in the junior age category (under 18): first-year student Mahriban Palvanova of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports (up to 59 kg, 10 participants) and 12th-grade student Annamuhammet Annamuhammedov of Ashgabat Secondary School № 105 (up to 64 kg, 16 participants).
Mahriban Palvanova won her first bout against Belarusian sambo wrestler Vera Minchenia, competing under the FIAS flag, 3-0. She then lost 1-5 to Russia's Darya Eremenko, competing under the International Sambo Federation flag, in the semifinals. In the bronze medal bout, she defeated Hannah Frew (New Zealand) 8-0. Liliya Yazykova (Ukraine) won the second bronze medal in the 59 kg weight class. Nuray Kamzayeva (Kazakhstan) won silver, and Darya Eremenko won gold.
On his way to the podium, Annamuhammet Annamuhammedov first lost to world champion Amin Yeromolayev of Russia (FIAS1) in the round of 16. He then defeated Alexandros Polichronidis (Greece) 2-1 in the first repechage round and defeated Nidijus Kasparavicius (Lithuania) in the bronze medal bout. Serzhan Dzhiengaziyev (Kazakhstan) took second place in the 64 kg weight class. The silver medal went to Davlatjon Kozimov of Uzbekistan, who lost 0-2 to Russia's Amin Yeromolayev in the final.
As FIAS noted, the first-ever World Youth Championships held in Indonesia opened a new and exciting chapter in the history of sambo in the Asian» region and underscored its growing global popularity.
