Two medals were won by judoka from Turkmenistan at the recent Asian Cadet Championship in Tashkent, where 181 athletes (103 men and 78 women) from 15 countries competed for 16 sets of medals over the course of two days.
Nuriya Pardayeva, a 10th-grade student of secondary school № 20 of Koytendag etrap, Lebap velayat, won the silver medal in our team, which was represented by 18 judoka (10 men and 8 women). She achieved this success in the weight category up to 40 kg, where 7 female athletes competed for the awards.
Our compatriot won against Maya Maya (India) in the first match, which turned out to be the quarterfinals. Then she prevailed over Zere Otepkali (Kazakhstan) in the semifinals. And in the final, she lost to Umida Kuldosheva (Uzbekistan) and settled for the silver medal. The bronze medalists were Maya Maya (India) and Zere Otepkali (Kazakhstan).
This is the first success of 15-year-old Nuriya Pardayeva at international competitions. She started practicing judo in Lebap velayat under the guidance of coach Jora Matnazarov. It is also noteworthy that Nuriya is the younger sister of Maysa Pardayeva, bronze medalist of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, a candidate for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The second medal for the Turkmenistan team was brought by Behruz Bahridinov, who won bronze in the weight category up to 50 kg, where 9 judoka from 8 countries competed for the awards.
After losing in the first match in the quarterfinals to Kairat Baidolotov from Kyrgyzstan, our athlete then won against P. Prince from India in the consolation tournament, and prevailed over Amirmohammad Hassannezhadghachkanloo from Iran in the bronze medal match, and rose to the third step of the podium. The second bronze medal was awarded to Yunusbek Shavkatov from Uzbekistan. The champion of Asia in this weight category was Nurbol Askar from Kazakhstan, who defeated Saud Alfaifi from Saudi Arabia in the final.
17-year-old Behruz Bahridinov, who is studying in the 11th grade at the capital’s "Olymp" secondary sports school, has climbed the podium for the second time at international competitions. In August this year, he also received a bronze medal at the II CIS Games, which took place in the Republic of Belarus.
Behruz Bahridinov, a native of Magdanly town in Koytendag etrap of Lebap velayat, is currently honing his skills under the guidance of coach the Judo Federation of Turkmenistan Guvanch Nurmuhammedov.
The success of our medalists in Tashkent is also shared by Sahatkuli Annakuliev, the head coach of the Turkmenistan cadet national team among boys, and Omar Muhamednazarov, the head coach of the women's national team, who have trained them on the tatami in the capital of Uzbekistan. Japanese specialist Kazuhiko Tokuno, a holder of the seventh dan Kodokan Judo, also provides great assistance in the preparation of Turkmen judoka as the head coach of the national team.
