Athletes of Turkmenistan started in four sports on the first competition day of the XIX Summer Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Swimmers opened the morning competition program. The 20-year-old master of sports Musa Zhalaev (100 meters freestyle) and 28-year-old master of sports of international class Merdan Ataev (100 meters backstroke) were the first in our team to enter the track of the Aquatic Sports Arena of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center. Both athletes showed not the best reaction time at the start: Musa’s reaction time was 0.66 seconds, Merdan’s was 0.68 seconds.
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Nevertheless, M. Zhalaev was the first to finish in the third qualifying heat with a national record of 51.63 seconds. According to the results of all the heats, the ward of the head coach of the national team of Turkmenistan Dmitry Novikov showed the 23rd result among 44 swimmers who took the start.
But Merdan Atayev didn't have enough to get to the final. As a result, the ward of the honored coach of Turkmenistan Sergey Epifanov finished with a time of 56.37 seconds, entering the top ten among the 28 backstroke swimmers who started the race.
At first, the tournament began encouragingly for our men's judo team, in which Aibek Omirov (weight category up to 57 kg) and Hekim Agamammedov (up to 66 kg) successfully passed the first round of the competition. Aibek won a clean victory over B. Vikas (Nepal) in the starting match, and Hekim defeated Chen Haozhen (Macau) in 54 seconds due to two "Waza-Ari".
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However, in the next round, luck turned away from the Turkmen judokas: H.Agamammedov lost to Sardor Nurillaev (Uzbekistan) in a stubborn struggle, and A. Omirov lost in the hardest fight to Harim Lee (Republic of Korea), current bronze medalist of the World Championship in Doha and vice-champion at the current Asian Games. After that, Aibek had a chance to clinch bronze in the consolation tournament. However, he failed to take advantage of it, losing to Chae Kwangjin (DPRK), future prize-winner of the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
In the women's judo team, Kurbanai Kurbanova (up to 48 kg) and Sayara Rozieva (up to 52 kg) completed their performance at the Asian Games, losing in the first round, respectively, to Halimajon Kurbonova (Uzbekistan), the bronze medalist of the Grand Slam-2023 in Astana, and Ahlia Muminova (Tajikistan).
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The boxing tournament at the Asian Games in our team was opened by Khursand Imankuliyev, the winner of the 2019 international tournament in Warsaw, dedicated to the memory of the founding father of the Polish boxing school, legendary mentor Felix Stamm, participant of the previous Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia. In the first fight, his opponent was Chinzorig Baatarsuk (Mongolia), the finalist of the 2023 World Championship in Tashkent, participant of the last two Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, vice-champion of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
The first round, in which two judges gave preference to the Turkmen boxer, was held in an equal fight. However, in the next two, Khursand's old injury made itself felt, which prevented him from breaking the opponent's resistance. As a result, the judges gave the victory to the Mongolian boxer with a score of 4:1.
At the end of the day, joyful news came from the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Center Taolu, where the Wushu Sanda tournament started. Agajumageldi Yazymov, a student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, entered the second round of the competition in the weight category up to 60 kg. His fight with Mendbayar Bayadaa from Mongolia did not take place due to the opponent's overweight, as a result of which the judges counted a technical victory for the Turkmen athlete.
The Asian Games in Hangzhou continue.
