Turkmenistan team won two more medals silver and bronze at the ongoing XIX Summer Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. They were won today on the first day of the kurash wrestling competition by Tejen Tejenov and Ainur Amanova.
Tejen Tejenov, a 30-year-old International Master of Sports from Ashgabat, won silver in the weight category over 90 kg, in which 12 athletes competed for medals. Ainur Amanova, a 27-year-old master of sports from Turkmenabat was awarded bronze in the weight up to 52 kg, in which 20 participants contested the awards.
Tejen in the first round, according to the result of the last assessment, won against Nurdaulet Zharylgapov (Kazakhstan), champion of World, Asian Championships and Grand Prix in Kazakh Kuresi Wrestling. Then, in the quarterfinals, he was stronger than the participant of three Asian Games, world champion and winner of the SAMBO World Cup, Bekbolot Togtogonov (Kyrgyzstan) – 3:0. And in the semifinals he won a clean victory over Junyeon Jen (Republic of Korea).
In the final, our compatriot faced a famous wrestler – four-time world champion, Asian champion in 2018 in Pune (India) and champion of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Mukhsin Khisomiddinov (Uzbekistan). Before that, Tejen had met him twice at the 2022 World Championship in Pune and in April this year at the Asian Test Championship in Hangzhou. And both times he lost to him in an equal struggle due to one remark.
The third duel of these rivals also took place in a stubborn struggle, in which the Uzbek athlete won again. The bronze medals in the super heavyweight category went to Junen Jen (Republic of Korea) and Kunatip Yia Onu (Thailand).
Tejen Tejenov is an experienced athlete in the team of Turkmenistan, who trains under the guidance of his father Dortkuli Tejenov, the head coach of the men's national team and the School of Higher Sportsmanship of the State Sports Committee of the country. Before kurash wrestling, he had been practicing judo and sambo for many years, where he also achieved great success. In sambo, he became a two-time Asian champion in 2013 in Tashkent and in 2016 in Ashgabat and a bronze medalist at the World Championships in 2015 in Casablanca, Morocco and in 2016 in Sofia (Bulgaria), won the World Cup Series «For the Prizes of the President of Belarus» in 2017 in Minsk, and in judo was the winner of Taipei Asian Open in 2018 in Taiwan.
Prior to the current Asian Games, Tejen won two silver awards at the Asian Test Championship and the World Series Pro Qualifier in April 2023 in Hangzhou. At the Asian Games, he became a silver medalist for the first time. At the previous two Asian Games in Incheon (2014) and Jakarta (2018), he competed in judo events, in which he took 9th and 7th places, respectively.
Currently, Tejen Tejenov combines active sports with the work of a coach in the sports club of the Ministry of Construction and Architecture of Turkmenistan.
Ainur Amanova had to fight four matches on the way to the bronze medal. In the first round, she scored a clean victory over Nguyen Hong Mo Pham (Vietnam). Then, in the 1/8 finals, she prevailed over the bronze medalist of the 2022 World Championship in the weight category up to 48 kg Savira Diah Fitri Rizkianti (Indonesia) - 5:0. In the quarterfinals, Ainur was stronger than Engji Oh (Republic of Korea) – 3:0, guaranteeing herself bronze. In the semifinals, A.Amanova lost to Hilola Ortikboeva (Uzbekistan), the Asian and world champion of 2022 in Dushanbe and Pune, who won against her compatriot Sitora Elmurodova in the final and became the champion of the Asian Games. The second bronze medal was awarded to Saovalak Homklin (Thailand).
Ainur Amanova, who has been engaged in kurash wrestling for almost 20 years under the leadership of Shirin Kubayeva, head coach of the women's national team of Turkmenistan, became the bronze medalist of the Asian Games for the first time. She was previously awarded bronze at the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2017 in Ashgabat, as well as at the Asian Test Championship and the World Series Pro Qualifier in 2023 in Hangzhou.
Recently, the International Kurash Association (IKA) declared Ainur Amanova the 2019 world champion after the former winner G.Suleymanova from Uzbekistan was convicted of doping and disqualified.
Ainur Amanova works at the 7th sports school of the city of Turkmenabat of the Main Department of Physical Culture and Sports of Lebap velayat, combining coaching with active sports.
In the kurash wrestling tournament at the XIX Summer Asian Games, 7 sets of awards are played: four for men and three for women. Turkmenistan's team at the Asian Games in Hangzhou is represented by 6 athletes (3 men and 3 women), for whom the current competitions are a good test of strength before the upcoming World Championships in Ashgabat on November 23-28, 2023.
After seven days of the Asian Games, the Turkmen team has 3 medals (1 silver and two bronze) and 27th place in the medal standings. The first medal for our country – bronze – was won by judoka Maisa Pardayeva in the weight category up to 57 kg.
