Turkmenistan is preparing to send its athletes to the Turkic World Muay Thai Championship, which will be held in Istanbul from August 14 to 18, “Anadolu” Agency reports with reference to the Muay Thai Federation of the Republic of Türkiye.

The championship is organized with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Türkiye, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

In addition to Turkmenistan, athletes from Tu Türkiye rkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Hungary, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina will take part in the competition.

The official opening of the tournament is scheduled for August 15, and the final fights and award ceremony will be held on August 18.

The first round matches of the Azerbaijan Premier League took place.

Turan Tovuz, led by Kurban Berdiyev, played away against Neftchi.

But the winner of this fight was not determined. The match ended with a score of 0:0. Both clubs earned their first points in the championship.

“In general, we assumed that the game would be tough. Neftchi is a good team. This game revealed our shortcomings and the direction in which we need to work. I am pleased with the dedication. We need to work on the attack. The guys know how to play, and they will cope with it over time,” azerisport.com reports Kurban Berdiyev as saying.

Last season, Turan finished the championship in sixth place, Neftchi in fifth. Then, Karabakh became the champion. In the new season, Turan, led by the new coach Berdiyev, expects to show a higher result.

The Gothia Cup International Football Tournament was founded in 1975 and is one of the largest youth tournaments in the world. The Gothia Special Olympics Trophy was added in 2014 as part of the Gothia Cup to include and support athletes with intellectual disabilities.

The National Center for Special Olympics of Turkmenistan (NCSOT) mini-football team competed in the Gothia Special Olympics Trophy for the first time.

This year, 24 teams took part in the competition, including 20 men's and 4 women's teams from 15 countries.

The team included five athletes from the Balkan region, three from the Mary region and two football players from Ashgabat. The delegation was also accompanied by two coaches: Gurbantagan Ilyasov, a physical education teacher from the Balkan velayat, and Nurberdiyev Rejep, an honored coach of Turkmenistan and a coach from the sports school No. 11 in Ashgabat. The delegation was headed by Gulnar Hojamyradova, an international relations specialist at the NCSO.

Before the tournament, qualifying matches were held, as a result of which the Turkmenistan team got into the fourth group. In the group stage, the team won against teams from Estonia, France and Sweden. In the final match, the NCSO team met with rivals from Indonesia and, losing with a minimal score of 1:2, won silver medals.

Following the tournament, the players of the Turkmenistan team were awarded medals and the Cup. This result was an important achievement for the team and a symbol of Turkmenistan's successful participation in such international tournaments.

The Specialized Children's and Youth Olympic Reserve School for Football of the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of Turkmenistan announces the recruitment of young players born in 2017 to its team. This was reported by the newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan".

The selection will take place on September 1 in Ashgabat. The recruitment is only for residents of the capital.

Time from 8:00 to 11:00. Venue: multifunctional stadium "Ashgabat". Young football players must have a sports uniform (game uniform for playing football), a copy of the birth certificate and one photo measuring 3x4 cm.

Additional information can be obtained by calling: +99365627910 and +99365049248.

Don't miss the chance to take part in the selection and become part of the football team.

The Specialized Children's and Youth Olympic Reserve School for Football of the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of Turkmenistan announces the recruitment of young players born in 2017 to its team. This was reported by the newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan".

The selection will take place on September 1 in Ashgabat. The recruitment is only for residents of the capital.

Time from 8:00 to 11:00. Venue: multifunctional stadium "Ashgabat". Young football players must have a sports uniform (game uniform for playing football), a copy of the birth certificate and one photo measuring 3x4 cm.

Additional information can be obtained by calling: +99365627910 and +99365049248.

Don't miss the chance to take part in the selection and become part of the football team.

The summer transfer window has closed in the championship of Turkmenistan, the Football Federation of Turkmenistan reports.

Earlier, we reported on the transfer of the goalkeeper of the national team of Turkmenistan Rustem Ahalliyev from the Ahal team to the Arkadag football club. They also wrote about the transfer of three players to the Ahal squad.

Strengthening of clubs "Ashgabat", "Kopetdag", "Merv" and "Nebitchi"

• FC "Ashgabat"

Shihdurdy Amandurdiyev, Orazaly Begnazarov (both transferred from Ahal), Shikhberdy Baynazarov (Kopetdag), Bashim Gurbanberdiyev (Nebitchi, rent), Nepesmurad Lallakov, Ovezmurad Ovezmuradov, Akmurad Durdiyev (all three Denizchi futsal club). 

•  FC Kopetdag

Jumamurad Jumayev (Ashgabat)

• FC Merv

Timur Umirov, Mekan Yazmuradov, Reshit Cherkezov, Farid Kamaleddinov (all "Energetik").

• FC Nebitchi

Murad Yagshiev (Kopetdag), Emir Berdiyev, Batyr Gayliyev (both on loan from Shagadam), Bayramgeldy Nurlyev, Ihlas Gurbanov.

The captain of the Turan-Tovuz, Shakhriyar Aliyev, told the newspaper azerisport.com He spoke about the preparation of the team for the new season of the Azerbaijan Premier Football League and shared his opinion about the new coach Kurban Berdyev.

"First, we held a training camp in Baku. Then we went to Gabala, and later to Turkey. We worked on physical fitness in Gabala. Friendly matches were held in Turkey to be ready for the start of the championship. We work every day to approach the championship in perfect shape, as the first three rounds can be very difficult.

Our head coach Kurban Berdyev gives us a lot of tasks. He constantly points out our shortcomings. Explains the points that we didn't understand. I think he pays attention to every little detail. Kurban Berdyev tries to bring his thoughts and ideas to the team.

Perhaps the upcoming season will be more difficult than the previous ones. All teams are strengthening their squad and want to achieve results. We are also preparing. We will try to achieve a good result," Aliyev said.

On August 2, the matches of the 1/4 finals of the men's football tournament of the Olympic Games in Paris took place, following which all participants of the semifinal matches became known.

Morocco – USA – 4:0

Japan – Spain – 0:3

France – Argentina – 1:0

Egypt – Paraguay – 1:1 (on penalties – 5:4)

In the 1/2 finals, the Moroccan national team will play Spain, and the French national team will face Egypt. The games will be held on August 5th.

The match for the 3rd place is scheduled for August 8. The final of the men's tournament will be held on the 9th.

At the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Brazilian national team became the winner of the men's football tournament. The Spaniards won silver medals, and the Mexicans won bronze.

"Ahal" Football Club is holding a training camp in Kartepe, Turkey. This is reported by the press service of the club.

As part of the preparation, the Turkmen team held a friendly match with the local team Fethiespor. The match ended with a score of 3:1 in favor of Akhal.

Team captain Elman Tagayev scored a double as part of the winners. Another goal was scored by striker Dayanch Meredov.

On August 4, the wards of Velsahet Ovezov plan to play a match with Saudi Al-Ahdoud and on August 7 with Iranian Gol Gohar. The "Ahal" training camp is a stage of preparation for the start of the third round of the Turkmenistan Football Championship, which will begin on August 16.

Serbian Novak Jokovic defeated Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinals of the singles tournament at the Olympic Games in Paris — 6:4, 6:2.

The match lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. Djokovic made 3 aces during the game, made 1 double mistake and converted 5 of 13 break points. Muzetti has 2 double faults and 2 realized break points from 4.

Djokovic reached the Olympic Singles final for the first time in his career. He will play with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz for the Paris 2024 gold.

In turn, Alcaraz reached the final of the Olympics by beating Canadian Felix Auger‑Alassim with a score of 6:1, 6:1.

The decisive match for the gold medal will take place on August 4.

Turkmen athlete Valentina Meredova completed her performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, demonstrating her best result of the season in the 100-meter run. In the first round of the competition, the 39 years old athlete covered the distance in 11,95 seconds, which, however, was not enough to reach the semi-finals.

Meredova, Turkmenistan's only track and field representative at the Olympics, made it through the preliminary round, finishing fourth in her heat with a time of 12,01 seconds. That result earned her 16th place out of 17 runners in the next round of the competition.

This is the second Olympics in Valentina Meredova’s career after participating in the 2008 Games in Beijing. She is the most experienced athlete in the Turkmen team at the Paris Olympics. Meredova also holds the national record of Turkmenistan in the 100m race – 11,56 seconds, set in 2008 in Almaty.

French swimmer Leon Marchand won two gold medals at the home Olympic Games in Paris on July 31.

The 22-year-old athlete won the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly events, and had previously won gold in the 400m individual medley.

Marchand thus became the first three-time Olympic champion at the 2024 Olympics.

Marchand also became the first swimmer (male or female) in Olympic history to win gold in the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly events at the same Olympics.

53-year-old Turkmen specialist Tofik Shukurov has been appointed head coach of the Ashgabat Football Club. Shukurov replaced Said Seidov in this position. This was reported by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan.

Recall that earlier Tofik Shukurov worked as the head coach of the Kopetdag team, which is in eighth place in the championship with 12 points.

After 16 rounds, FC Ashgabat is in 6th place in the standings, having 16 points.