Turkmen judoka Hekim Agamammedov has risen to the 34th position in the world judo ranking with 1620 points, according to the International Judo Federation (IJF).
As previously reported, at the "Tokyo Grand Slam-2023" tournament held in the capital of Japan in December 2023, this talented 24-year-old judoka from Turkmenistan won a bronze medal in the 66 kg weight category, where 48 wrestlers from 35 countries competed for the awards.
Due to this success at the "Tokyo Grand Slam-2023," H. Agamammedov, who was previously on the 42nd place in the world ranking list, increased his rating by 500 points, making a significant claim to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
It should be noted that Turkmen judokas had never before reached the podium in prestigious "Grand Slam" competitions held worldwide, where winners and medalists earn ranking points for participation in world championships and the Olympic Games. The best result of our compatriots in such tournaments was 5th place in 2014 at the "Grand Slam" in Baku by Gulbadam Babamuratova, who twice won and four times became a medalist in various competitions, including the Grand Prix in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Samsun (Turkey), Qingdao (China), Dusseldorf (Germany), Agadir (Morocco) and Tbilisi (Georgia).
Hekim Agamammedov first made headlines in 2022 when he won a bronze medal at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, and then won a gold medal in the 66 kg weight category at the European Open Championship in Oberwart, Austria, where 32 judokas competed. Last year, he also reached the podium at the European Open Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, winning a bronze medal.
Hekim Agamammedov started practicing judo in the city of Turkmenbashi under his first coach Rashid Guseynov. Currently, he is improving his sports skills under the guidance of Gakhryman Amandurdyev, senior coach of the men's national team, and Japanese specialist Kazuhiko Tokuno, the holder of the seventh Dan of Kodokan Judo, who became the head coach of the national team in 2023. Under his leadership, Turkmen judokas won many medals in the international arena last year, including at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, the World Championships Cadets in Zagreb, Croatia, the Asian Cadet Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the 2nd CIS Games in the Republic of Belarus, and other prestigious competitions.
Another Turkmen athlete, Serdar Rakhimov, a second-year student of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, is also among the top 50 judokas in the world, ranking 47th with 999 points in the IJF rating. Last year, this talented 19-year-old judoka was the first in the weight category up to 66 kg at the Sarajevo Junior European Cup in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and won silver medals at the Rome European Open in Italy, and the Tashkent Junior Asian Cup.
