Turkmen athletes will return home with 21 medals of various distinctions from the 11th Central Asian Karate WKF Championships, which concluded in Aktau, Kazakhstan.
The competition brought together 421 karate athletes from Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The participants competed for medals in the kata (formal exercise demonstration) and kumite (sparring) disciplines among cadets, juniors, and adults.
At the end of the three-day tournament, the Turkmen team had won a total of 4 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze medals.
As previously reported, on the opening day of the competition, the athletes coached by Aydyn Charyyev, Esenbay Yazmedov, Maksat Atdayev, and Serdar Muhammetnazarov claimed four medals (1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze) in kata. On the second day, they added nine more medals (2 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze) in kumite.
On the final day of the championship, Turkmen karate athletes further increased the team's medal tally by winning another eight medals in kumite: 1 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze.
Alymuhammet Kakalyyev, an 11th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 61 in Ashgabat, stood on the highest step of the podium after winning the boys' 14–15 age category in the under-63 kg weight class.
In the same age group and weight category, Remezan Gurbanov, an 11th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 7 in Ashgabat, earned a silver medal. Two more silver medals in the older 16–17 junior category were won by Gurbannazar Amandurdyyev, a 12th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 16 in the Ak Bugday etrap of the Ahal velayat (under 55 kg), and Diana Gorinova, an 11th-grade student at Secondary School No. 2 in Ashgabat (under 66 kg).
In the 14–15 age category, bronze medals for Turkmenistan were won by Remezan Orazmammedov, a 10th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 27 in the Ak Bugday etrap of the Ahal velayat (under 57 kg), and Nurana Amandurdyyeva, a 9th-grade student at Secondary School No. 62 in Ashgabat (over 61 kg). In the 16–17 junior category, Annaoraz Azadov, a 12th-grade student at Specialized Secondary School No. 135 in Ashgabat with advanced English language studies, secured a bronze medal in the under-68 kg weight class. Another bronze medal, this time among adult competitors, was won in the over-84 kg super heavyweight category by Arslan Babanazarov, a fifth-year cadet at the Great Saparmurat Turkmenbashi Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan.
The success of our karate athletes at the 2026 Central Asian Championships is also shared by their coaches—head coach of the Turkmenistan national team Aydyn Charyyev, his assistant Esenbay Yazmedov, and national team coaches Maksat Atdayev and Serdar Muhammetnazarov.
With a delegation of 36 athletes, the Turkmenistan national team finished fourth in the overall medal standings, ahead of Tajikistan (3 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze) and Uzbekistan (1 gold, 1 silver, and 7 bronze). The top three places were taken by Kazakhstan (41 gold, 43 silver, and 72 bronze), the Islamic Republic of Iran (8 gold, 3 silver, and 8 bronze), and Kyrgyzstan (6 gold, 7 silver, and 11 bronze).
