After an 11-year break, the men’s national volleyball team of Turkmenistan will once again compete in the Asian Championship, which will take place in 2026. They earned this right by winning the recently concluded Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Cup, held in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, with the participation of six teams.
The men’s national teams of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal, Turkmenistan, and Sri Lanka competed for the single berth to the continental championship. In the first stage, all teams played each other in a round-robin format, after which the two best teams faced off in the final for the main prize.
The Turkmen team went through the entire tournament undefeated, successively defeating their opponents on the way to the final: Nepal – 3:0, Sri Lanka – 3:1, Afghanistan – 3:1, Bangladesh – 3:2, and the Maldives – 3:0.
The final match, in which Turkmenistan met Afghanistan, became the true highlight of the tournament. In a tense battle, trailing twice during the match in sets and by 1:6 in the decisive fifth set, our compatriots showed great character and snatched victory – 3:2 (20:25, 25:21, 18:25, 25:20, 15:12).
Following the tournament, players from the Turkmen national team received special recognition: Bagtyyar Hemragulyev was named the Best Outside Hitter (a versatile player involved in serve reception, attack, and defense), while Akmyrat Dovletov was awarded as the Best Setter (the playmaker who directs the team’s attacks).
CAVA is one of the five zonal associations within the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC). Established in 1993 at the 10th General Assembly of the AVC, it governs indoor and beach volleyball in Central and South Asia. CAVA unites 14 national federations, all of which are full members of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
A year ago, the Turkmen volleyball players won silver medals at the CAVA Nations League tournament held in Islamabad (Pakistan). And now, for the first time, they have triumphed at the CAVA Cup for Men 2025. The Turkmenistan national team was led to this success by 48-year-old Ramin Babai, a well-known former Iranian volleyball player of Turkmen ethnicity, who has been serving as the team’s head coach since October 2025. In 2005, he became the champion of the Islamic Solidarity Games as part of the Iranian national team in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Recently, he responded to Turkmenistan’s invitation to help raise the level of volleyball in the country. Assisting Ramin Babai in his work with the national team is Dovletgeldi Annabayev.
The next goal for our volleyball players is to successfully prepare for the upcoming Asian Championship next year. The last time Turkmenistan’s national team participated in this competition was in 2015 in Tehran, where they finished in 16th place.
