Turkmen athletes won 12 medals – 7 gold and 5 bronze – at the recently concluded Uzbekistan World Cup in kickboxing held in Tashkent.
Kickboxing is a versatile martial art that allows one to master striking techniques with hands and feet, improve physical fitness, and become more self-confident.
The competitions in the capital of Uzbekistan were held under the auspices of the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO), which promotes 7 competitive disciplines in the ring and on tatami. They gathered 2,194 athletes from more than 40 countries.
Participants of the Youth World Cup 2024 competed for medals in the ring in the disciplines of "full contact" (full contact where elbow strikes, knee strikes, and strikes below the belt are prohibited), "low kick" (full contact with leg kicks), "kick light" (a match with some force restrictions but allowing strikes to the inner and outer thigh), and according to K-1 rules, which allow knee strikes but prohibit throws, headbutts, any grappling of the opponent, and elbow strikes.
Gold medals for our team were won by:
- In the "full contact" discipline: Akmyrat Akmyradov, a first-year student at the Institute of Telecommunications and Informatics of Turkmenistan (weight category up to 67 kg);
- In the "low kick" discipline: Kirill Voevodin, a 12th-grade student at the 21st Specialized Secondary School in Turkmenabat (up to 54 kg);
- In the "kick light" discipline: Mukhammetali Orazmukhammedov, a 4th-grade student at Ashgabat Specialized Secondary School No. 135 (up to 30 kg);
- In the K-1 discipline: Resul Rustamov, a 10th-grade student at the 39th Secondary School in Turkmenabat (up to 42 kg); Salamatkhan Baltaev, a 12th-grade student at the 33rd Secondary School in Turkmenabat; Nurmukhammet Joraev, a 9th-grade student at the 11th Secondary School in Turkmenabat (up to 52 kg); and Serdar Bekenov, a 12th-grade student at the 24th Secondary School in Ashgabat (up to 51 kg).
Bronze medals were awarded to:
- In the "low kick" discipline: Rashit Geldimammedov, an 11th-grade student at the 28th Secondary School of Murgap etrap in Mary velayat (up to 60 kg);
- In the "kick light" discipline: Hangeldi Atabayev, a 9th-grade student at Ashgabat Secondary School No. 134;
- In the K-1 discipline: Guvanch Mahmudov, an 11th-grade student at Secondary School No. 36 in Ashgabat (up to 51 kg); Guvanch Babaev, an 11th-grade student at the 5th Secondary School of Gami village in Ak Bugday etrap of Ahal velayat (up to 48 kg); and Ikhlas Baev, an 11th-grade student at Ashgabat Specialized Secondary School No. 74 (up to 63.5 kg).
