Turkmen athletes won nine medals at the Central Asian Traditional Karate Championship held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The competition gathered about 300 karatekas from five countries, competing for titles in kata (demonstration of formal exercises) and kumite (sparring) in various age categories.

According to the State Sports Committee of Turkmenistan, our team was represented by 12 athletes, 9 of them returned home with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.

The highest honors were awarded to: Ihlas Annagurbanov, a 9th-grade student of Ashgabat's 45th secondary school (kata, 14-15 years), Ibragim Shagulyev, a 9th-grade student of Ashgabat's 2nd secondary school (kumite, 14-15 years), Nurgeldi Annagurbanov, a first-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Economics and Management (kata, 18-21 years), and Selim Myratdurdyev, a coach-teacher at the 1st sports school of the Main Department of Physical Culture and Sports of Ashgabat (kumite, 22-25 years).

Silver medalists were: Serdar Bayryev, a 10th-grade student of Ashgabat's 66th secondary school (kumite, 22-25 years), Yagmyrmyrat Sakhetmyradov, an 11th-grade student of Ashgabat's 42nd secondary school (kumite, 18-21 years), and Gurbannazar Hummedov, an athlete of the National Federation of Traditional Karate of Turkmenistan (kumite, 22-25 years).

Bronze medalists were: Yunus Mukhammetgulyev, a 9th-grade student of Ashgabat's 80th specialized secondary school (kumite, 14-15 years), and Myratbek Baltaev, an athlete of the National Federation of Traditional Karate of Turkmenistan (kumite, 22-25 years).

Turkmenistan's national team took third place in the team medal standings.

Our team was prepared for the Central Asian Championship by head coach Dovlet Berdiyev and his assistants Kemal Ataev, Diyar Hojaev and Eymur Mademinov.