Turkmen judoka Serdar Rakhimov won a silver medal at the recently concluded European Cup in Riga, Latvia. The tournament featured 14 sets of medals contested by 316 athletes (214 men and 102 women) from 26 countries across four continents. Rakhimov, a second-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, achieved this success in the weight category up to 66 kg, in which 46 athletes from 37 countries competed for the title of the strongest.
On his way to the podium, the 20-year-old Turkmen athlete secured five victories. In the first round, Serdar defeated Guy Gutman from Israel by the opponent's third penalty (hansoku-make). He won the next three bouts by ippon, claiming clean victories over Joshua Bell from the United Kingdom, Giovanni Suarez Artiles from Spain, and Luka Chopliani from Georgia.
In the semifinals, S. Rakhimov prevailed over 23-year-old William Cysique from France with a waza-ari score. In the final, the match went into golden score as no scores were awarded during the main 4 minutes of the fight. Ultimately, Rakhimov conceded to 22-year-old Finlay Allan from the United Kingdom, the silver medalist of the 2023 European Cup in Gaya, Portugal, and the bronze medalist of the 2023 European Cup in Malaga, Spain. Rakhimov settled for second place. The bronze medals went to William Cysique from France and Michael Fryer from the United Kingdom. 
Serdar Rakhimov has won a silver medal at major international competitions for the second time in the last two months. In February, he achieved the same success at the Warsaw European Open 2024 tournament. In 2023, he won silver at the Rome European Open, gold at the Sarajevo Junior European Cup, and became a silver medalist at the Tashkent Junior Asian Cup. Thanks to his silver success at the Warsaw European Open Tournament, Serdar moved up four positions in the world ranking in the weight category up to 66 kg, occupying 42nd place with 1223 points, and 15th place in the junior ranking with 172 points.
Judo fighter Serdar Rahimov began his training in Hojambaz, Lebap velayat, under his first coach Bayram Sherapov. Currently, he is honing his sporting skills in the national team of Turkmenistan, which was led in 2023by Japanese specialist Kazuhiko Tokuno, the holder of the seventh Dan of Kodokan Judo.
In the same weight category up to 66 kg, another Turkmen judoka, Hekim Agamammedov, finished his performance at the European Cup in Riga just one step away from a bronze medal. In the first two matches, he won by ippon (clean victory) against Aiden Moffat from the United Kingdom and Daniel Kachara from Croatia, respectively. Then he defeated Theau Giallurachis from France in a golden score.
In the quarterfinals, the 25-year-old bronze medalist of the Grand Slam 2023 in Tokyo from Turkmenistan lost by ippon to the future winner of the European Cup 2024, Finlay Allan from Great Britain. Then, in the consolation tournament, he achieved clean victories over Heorhii Kurkoid from Ukraine and Merey Markhanbetov from Kazakhstan.
The match for the bronze medal had to be determined in an additional showdown as no scores were awarded during the main 4 minutes of the fight. And here, at the 26th second of the golden score, success favored William Cysique from France. Hekim Agamammedov ultimately finished in fifth place.
Kurbanai Kurbanova (up to 48 kg) and Zulhumar Dashkinova (up to 63 kg) took seventh places in the Turkmenistan team, which was represented by 8 athletes (5 men and 3 women) at the European Cup in Riga.
Turkmen judokas continue to gain ranking points in the battle for qualification for the XXXIII Olympic Games 2024 in Paris by participating in prestigious international tournaments. Currently, the most favorable chances of participation in the Olympics 2024 are held by Hekim Agamammedov and Serdar Rakhimov (both in the weight category up to 66 kg), as well as Maisa Pardaeva (up to 57 kg), who are tasked with improving their positions in the Olympic ranking in six more qualifying competitions.
The next serious test for our judokas will be the Grand Slam tournament, which will take place from March 22 to 24, 2024, at the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia, as part of the IJF World Tour. The final stage of judo qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris will be the World Championships, which will be held from May 19 to 24 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The Olympic Games in the capital of France will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
Correspondent of «GA»
