Turkmen sambo wrestlers won five medals – two gold, two silver, and one bronze – on the first day of the World Cup, which kicked off in Dushanbe, as reported by the turkmenistan.gov.tm.
Over the course of two days, 178 athletes from 12 countries competed for 28 medal events – seven each in men’s, women’s, and combat sambo. According to the tournament regulations, each participating country could enter two athletes in each weight category.
Turkmenistan fielded a team of 18 athletes representing both sport and combat sambo.
Madina Aydogdyyeva and Zyba Orunova won gold medals for the Turkmen team in women’s combat sambo. Madina achieved this feat in the 59 kg weight class, where seven athletes competed, while Zyba won the 65 kg weight class, where only two sambists competed.
On her way to gold, M. Aydogdyyeva defeated Iroda Tohirova (Uzbekistan) 4-0 and Gulzira Kudasbek (Kazakhstan) 8-0 in her first two bouts. In the final, she defeated 22-year-old Yelizaveta Lapayeva of Belarus, bronze medalist at the 2024 World Championships in Astana and the 2025 World Cup in Yerevan, competing under the International Sambo Federation (FIAS), 1-0. Zyba Orunova defeated Gulasal Oblokulova (Uzbekistan) 3-2 in the final to take the top step of the podium.
Aminat Guvanjova and Gulzada Jorakulyyeva won silver medals in women’s combat sambo in the 50 kg and 72 kg weight classes, respectively, where only two athletes entered. In their only final bouts, our sambo wrestlers lost to Jadyra Payiz (50 kg) from Kazakhstan 2:10 and to Yana Polyakova of Russia (72 kg), competing under the FIAS flag, 0:2, taking second place on the podium.
Annageldi Annasakhedov won bronze for our team. He achieved this feat in the 88 kg weight class of sport sambo, where 12 athletes competed for the medals. In the quarterfinals, A. Annasahatov defeated Hamroz Rajabov of Tajikistan. In the semifinals, he lost to Russian Vladislav Panov, competing under the FIAS flag. In the repechage bout for bronze, he defeated Belarusian Vladislav Nork, competing under the International Sambo Federation flag.
The competition continues.
