Turkmen freestyle wrestlers delivered a strong performance at the recently concluded Asian Junior Wrestling Championships for athletes under 20, securing one silver and two bronze medals, as reported turkmenistan.gov.tm.
Dovletgeldi Myradov, a 19-year-old first-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, won the lone silver medal. Competing in the 86 kg weight category against 10 other athletes, Myradov began his campaign with a decisive 13:0 victory over Juhwan Lee of South Korea. He then advanced to the final by defeating Sachin Sachin of India, the 2025 Asian Champion among cadets (U15), with a score of 12:1 in the semi-finals. Myradov ultimately earned the silver medal after a 2:6 loss in the final to Iran’s Abolfazl Yaser Rahmani Firouzjai, a 19-year-old who previously won the adult Asian Championship in Jordan in 2025. Bronze medals in this category were awarded to Sachin Sachin (India) and Elnur Akybayev (Kyrgyzstan).
Vatan Annaorazov, also a 19-year-old first-year student from the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, secured a bronze medal in the 74 kg weight class, which saw 13 participants vying for top honors. Annaorazov demonstrated strong form in his initial matches, securing comfortable victories of 12:2 against Burendjargal Batbayar (Mongolia) and 13:4 against Muhammadamin Abduloyev (Tajikistan). After a 0:10 loss to Umarhon Muydinov (Uzbekistan) in the semi-finals, he recovered to win a tough bronze medal bout against Jinpeng Zhu (China) with a 5:4 score. The other bronze medal in this category went to Dosjan Kul Gayip (Kazakhstan). Umarhon Muydinov (Uzbekistan) claimed the silver medal, while Mohammad Mahdi Parviz Mamivand (Iran) won gold with an 11:0 victory in the final. Notably, Annaorazov’s bronze medal follows his identical success at the Asian Youth Championship (U23) in Vung Tau, Vietnam, just last month.
The team also was optimistic for Alp Arslan Begenjov, the current world and Asian champion in his age group, who competed in the 79 kg category. The 18-year-old international master of sports from Ashgabat, who earned his titles last year in Thailand and Spain, faced Amit Amit of India in the quarterfinal stage. Despite leading 6:3 on technical points, the Indian wrestler, losing his chance to compete for a gold medal, ultimately defeated Begenjov. However, Begenjov rebounded convincingly in the bronze medal match, defeating Jorullo Abdufattohov (Uzbekistan) 12:1 to secure a place on the podium. Japanese wrestler Natsura Okazawa took the second bronze medal. The silver medal went to Abolfazl Mehdi Shamsipur Hajivand (Iran), the 2024 World Champion among U17 athletes, who lost 4:5 in the final to Amit Amit (India), making Amit the U20 Asian Champion for the first time. Earlier this year in June, Begenjov also secured a silver medal at the Asian Youth Championship (U23) in Vietnam in the 79 kg category.
Following the Asian Championships for cadets (U15) and juniors (U20), Turkmenistan’s national team garnered 5 medals: 1 silver and 4 bronze. Earlier successes in the cadet tournament included a bronze in freestyle wrestling for 9th-grade student Meret Durdyev (44 kg) from Ashgabat Secondary School № 9, and a bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling for Jeyhun Hakberdiyev (52 kg) from the capital’s “Olimp” sports school.
The Asian Championship, hosted in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, brought together wrestlers from 15 nations: India, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, China, DPRK, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Japan.
