The national team of Turkmenistan has added a second silver medal to its collection at the XX Summer Asian Games in Nagoya (Japan). On the final day of the weightlifting competition, 22-year-old Master of Sports of International Class, 5th-year student of the Turkmen state institute of physical culture and sports, Shahzadbek Matyakubov, became the vice-champion of the Asian Games.
Tactical games and dramatic struggle until the last attempt
Matyakubov competed in the 110 kg weight category, where 11 weightlifters competed for medals, including winners and medallists of the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Asian Championships.
In the first event, the snatch, the Turkmen athlete successfully completed all three attempts (180, 184, and 188 kg), placing third. He was 1 kg ahead of 28-year-old 2024 Asian Championship bronze medallist Chen Po-tsien (Chinese Taipei), who lifted 189 kg (with an unsuccessful third attempt of 195 kg). In fourth place with a result of 185 kg was the 25-year-old 2023 world champion and 2024 Paris Olympic champion Liu Huanhua (China). The 26-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and three-time world champion Akbar Jurayev (Uzbekistan) confidently took the lead with a new world record in the snatch (197 kg).
The second exercise, the push, turned into a real tactical duel:
In his first attempt, Matyakubov failed to lift 217 kg. To give the athlete time to recover, Turkmenistan national team head coach Meretguly Sahetmyradov took a risk and increased the starting weight to a heavier one.
Chinese Liu Huanhua lifted 220 kg in his second attempt (total: 405 kg) and took the lead, while Chen Po-zen failed to lift 220 kg in his first attempt.
Turkmenistan then engaged in a tactical game: Matyakubov missed 220 kg and demanded 222 kg, forcing his opponents to approach the maximum weights. In their first attempts at 222 kg, both Matyakubov and Chen Po-tszen failed, putting themselves at risk of receiving a zero score («bagels»).
Stepping onto the platform for the final attempt at 222 kg, Shahzadbek showed incredible willpower, locked the weight over his head and lifted a total of 410 kg, beating Liu Huanhua by 5 kg.
Chen Po-tsien of Chinese Taipei also lifted 222 kg in his final attempt, and the judges initially counted the attempt. However, after a video review, the jury overturned the decision. As a result, the athlete finished the tournament without a score in the clean and jerk and was eliminated from the medal race.
The 20-year-old 2025 World Vice-Champion Alireza Nasiri (Iran) immediately entered the fray, successfully lifting 223 kg in his first attempt (total lift – 403 kg).
Titled Akbar Jurayev (Uzbekistan) confidently lifted 226 kg in his first attempt, setting a new Asian Games record in the clean and jerk.
To beat the Turkmen athlete in total, Olympic champion Liu Huanhua (China) went for the same 226 kg in his final attempt. He lifted the weight, but two of the three judges did not count the attempt, which guaranteed Shakhzadbek Matyakubov a medal.
Trying to displace the Turkmen athlete from second place, Iranian Alireza Nasiri stormed 231 kg in his two remaining attempts, but was unsuccessful both times.
Having secured gold with a new Asian Games record in the combined lift of 423 kg (197 + 226), Akbar Jurayev abandoned the final two attempts.
After this, the final podium in the 110 kg weight category looked like this:
🥇 Akbar Jurayev (Uzbekistan) – 423 kg (197 + 226) – Asian Games record
🥈 Shahzadbek Matyakubov (Turkmenistan) – 410 kg (188 + 222)
🥉 Liu Huanhua (China) – 405 kg (185 + 220)
Path of the athlete
For Shahzadbek, this is his first adult podium at the Asian Games and his debut in a new weight category (up to 110 kg). He took his first steps in sports in the Akdepe etrap of the Dashoguz velayat under the guidance of his brother Nabizhon Matyakubov. Currently, he is improving his athletic skills under the guidance of the head coach of the national team, Meretguly Sahetmyradov.
He had already achieved significant victories:
2023 year (up to 96 kg): gold at the Asian junior championships in Delhi (India), victory at the IWF Grand Prix II in Doha (Qatar) and silver at the junior world championships in Guadalajara (Mexico).
2024 year (up to 102 kg): three gold medals at the junior world championships in Leon (Spain) with a junior world record in the clean and jerk (216 kg); then three gold medals at the junior Asian championships in Doha (Qatar) with new junior world records in the clean and jerk (219 kg) and the combined lift (396 kg).
Results of other weightlifters from Turkmenistan
Three more athletes represented Turkmenistan in the weightlifting tournament:
Bektimur Reyimov (up to 75 kg): The 24-year-old international master of sports took 5th place out of 8 participants with a result of 337 kg (155 + 182).
Anamjan Rustamova (up to 86 kg): a 3rd-year student at the Turkmen state institute of physical education and sports, stopped just short of the podium, taking 4th place out of 8 with a result of 258 kg (116 + 142). She lost by just 1 kg to bronze medallist Mahsa Beheshti from Iran - 259 kg (113 + 146). The gold in this weight class was won by the current world champion Wu Yan (China) – 273 kg (124 + 149), and the silver was won by the former world and European champion Alina Marushchak (Bahrain, formerly Ukraine) – 272 kg (124 + 148).
Ogulshat Amanova (up to 53 kg): two-time world champion among girls under 17 years old took 9th place among 13 participants with a result of 191 kg (88 + 103).
Kurash
Meanwhile, the kurash wrestling competitions at the Asian Games, in which Turkmenistan was represented by 6 athletes, have concluded. After success at the 2023 World Championships in Ashgabat (15 medals) and the last Asian Games in Hangzhou (2 bronze), the Turkmen kurash wrestlers (3 men and 3 women) were left without awards this time, stopping just short of medals:
Nurana Hezretova (up to 78 kg): in the 1/8 finals, she defeated Saniet Talaibekova (Kyrgyzstan) 10:0, but in the 1/4 finals, she lost to Shohista Nazarova (Uzbekistan) 0:3.
Hydyr Muhammedov (up to 66 kg): in the 1/8 finals he beat Pan Si-cheng (Chinese Taipei) – 3:0, but in the 1/4 finals he lost to the future silver medallist Yosin Bobokalonov (Tajikistan) – 0:5.
Arslan Charyyev (up to 81 kg) and 2023 world champion Sabina Kadyrova (up to 78 kg) started straight from the quarterfinals, where they suffered 0:10 losses to Games vice-champion Ramin Ahmadzadeh (Iran) and future champion Pokizahon Kamoldinova (Uzbekistan), respectively.
Humay Jumadurdyyeva (up to 57 kg): won in the 1/16 finals against Mirina Lajahasan (Philippines) – 3:0, but lost in the 1/8 finals to Wang Pin-chun (Chinese Taipei) – 0:5.
Ylyas Muhammedov (up to 66 kg): finished his performance in the 1/8 finals, losing to Sarvar Abdushukurov (Tajikistan) - 0:5.
Athletics
The following athletes took part in the final qualifying rounds of the 2026 Asian Games:
26-year-old Lukman Gurbandurdyyev (200m): took 5th place in his heat with a time of 22.11 seconds (0.37 seconds slower than his personal best) and finished 25th out of 31.
24-year-old Enejan Esedova (200m): Finished 8th in the qualifying heat with a time of 25.16 seconds (0.05 seconds slower than her personal best) and placed 21st out of 25.
Greco-Roman wrestling
Representatives of the sport of wrestling have entered the competition for medals at the Asian Games in Nagoya. The first six sets of medals were contested by Greco-Roman wrestlers. In this event, Turkmenistan was represented by three athletes. All of them finished outside the top three:
Aslan Agadayev (up to 130 kg, 17 years old): in the quarterfinals he defeated Anucha Yospanyi (Thailand) – 9:0, in the semifinals he lost to Rafael Tsitsuashvili (Uzbekistan) – 0:8, and in the bout for bronze he lost to Kim Min-seok (Republic of Korea) – 2:7, taking 5th place.
Amanberdi Agamammedov (up to 97 kg, 27 years old): in the quarterfinals he lost to Nitesh Sivac (India) – 1:7, and in the small final for bronze he lost to Ganbaataryn Ganhuyag (Mongolia) – 5:9, also taking 5th place.
Azatjan Achilov (up to 60 kg, 27 years old): suffered two defeats – in the quarterfinals from the future champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) – 0:8 and in the consolation round from Kim Da-Hyun (Republic of Korea) – 1:12.
Freestyle wrestling
Turkmenistan is also represented by three athletes in the freestyle wrestling tournament that started today:
Alp Arslan Begenjov (up to 86 kg): the U20 world champion (2024) and U23 Asian champion (2026) began his performance with a victory over Aidusi Hade (China) - 5:1, but in the quarterfinals he lost to Suldhuu Olonbayar (Mongolia) - 0:4 and retired.
Ziyamuhammet Saparov (up to 125 kg): in the quarterfinals, he lost to Amir Hossein Zar (Iran) - 0:11, but in the repechage bout, he defeated Japanese Taiki Yamamoto - 4:2. In the bronze medal match against 19-year-old Yedyge Kasymbek (Kazakhstan), Saparov was leading with a score of 4:1, but lost the advantage and lost by a difference of ten points (4:14), stopping one step short of a medal.
Shatlyk Hemelyayev (up to 97 kg): starts on the final day of competition. In the quarter-finals, he will face the winner of the match between Amirali Azarpira (Iran) and Muhammad Gulzar (Pakistan).
