Three medals will be taken home by Turkmen judoists from the Junior European Cup, which ended in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 14 sets of awards of which were contested by 268 athletes (166 men and 102 women) from 18 countries within two days.
In addition to the gold medal won earlier by Serdar Rahymov in the weight category up to 66 kg, on the second day of the competition, our compatriots brought two more silver medals to the team's treasury. They were won by Baymyrat Majanov (up to 100 kg) and Maysa Pardayeva (up to 57 kg).
On the way to this success, Baymyrat won in the quarterfinals due to two «Vasari» scores against the 20-year-old bronze medalist of the Junior European Cup 2023 in Lignano (Italy) Gala Bertalanika Zizaka (Poland), in the semifinals iponom (clear victory) defeated Ognien Djurisic (Serbia) and only in the final lost to Jakob Vares (Estonia). And Maysa in the quarter-finals and semi-finals scored clear victories over Kristina Nisavich (Serbia) and Julia Bulanda (Poland), respectively, and only in the final lost to the two-time bronze medalist of the European Cup among cadets in 2021 and 2022 Kinga Chmielewska (Poland).
For the 18-year-old first-class athlete from Ashgabat, Baymyrat Majanov, this is the first major success in international competitions. Previously, his best result was 7th place at the Junior Asian Cup 2022 in Almaty. Baymyrat began to engage in judo wrestling with his first coach Shanazar Berdiyev. Currently, he is studying in the 11th grade of Ashgabat secondary school №145 and improving sports skills with the coaches of the youth team Sahed Annagulyyev and Yhlas Setdarov under the guidance of the head coach of the national team of Turkmenistan Gahryman Amandurdyyev.
But the 18-year-old first-class girl Maysa Pardayeva, who studies in the 10th grade of secondary school №20 of the Koytendag etrap of the Lebap velayat, has been rising to the podium at international competitions for the second time. A year ago, she excelled at the Junior Asian Cup 2022 in Almaty. And now she won silver at the 2023 European Junior Cup in Sarajevo. This success of her pupil is shared by Maysa's first coach, Jora Matnazarov, and her current mentors, head coaches of the youth team Gulbadam Babamuradova and the national team Chemengul Geldibayeva.
Ali Agamammedov (weight category up to 60 kg) and Aksoltan Hojageldiyeva (up to 48 kg) were very close to winning medals at the Junior European Cup 2023 in the team of Turkmenistan. However, they lost to Ibrahim Degnush (France) and Zuzanna Wozniak (Poland) respectively in the bronze medal matches and eventually took 5th place.
The next serious test for the Turkmen judoists will be the Grand Slam tournament in Tbilisi (Georgia), which will be held on March 24-26. 10 athletes from Turkmenistan along with teams from 62 countries (229 men and 204 women) will compete for medals and rating points on their way to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The men's team of Turkmenistan included: Aybek Omirov, Hakberdi Jumayev (both in the weight category up to 60 kg), Serdar Rahymov, Hekim Agamammedov (both up to 66 kg) and Parahat Nazarov (up to 73 kg). And in the women's - Aksoltan Hojageldiyeva, Kurbanay Kurbanova (both - up to 48 kg), Sayara Rozyyeva (up to 52 kg), Maysa Pardayeva (up to 57 kg) and Zulhumar Dashkinova (up to 63 kg).
