Mikolas Alekna of Lithuania broke a 38 years old world record in discus throw. At the Oklahoma Throws Series competition in the USA, the 21 years old athlete threw a projectile 74,35 meters, thereby surpassing the achievement of Jurgen Schult from Germany (74,08 m, 1986). 

Alekna's fifth attempt was a record. It is worth noting that he surpassed his personal best by as much as 3 meters, set a week earlier.

This is not the first triumph for the young athlete. In 2022, he became the youngest medalist at the World Championships in discus throwing, winning silver, and also became European champion. In 2023, he added a world championship bronze to his collection.

Alekna's achievement is all the more impressive given that he is the son of two-time Olympic discus champion Virgilijus Alekna. Virgilius, winner of the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics, still holds the second best result in history (73,88 m).

Turkmen mixed martial arts light heavyweight fighter Dovletjan Yagshimuradov returns to his homeland after a crushing victory over Slovenian Jacob Nedo at the PFL 2 tournament.

Let us remind you that the Yagshimuradov – Nedo fight was held on April 13 in Las Vegas (USA). The Turkmen athlete won a confident victory by technical knockout in the first round.

Today, the Turkish Airlines plane carrying Yagshimuradov will land at Ashgabat International Airport, where the fighter will be greeted with honors.

To date, Dovletjan Yagshimuradov has 22 victories, 7 defeats and 1 draw. The athlete is on a streak of 4 victories in a row.

The opening of the spring racing season was held at the equestrian complex of Mary velayat of Turkmenistan. More than 100 Ahal-Teke horses aged 3 years and older, representing all regions of the country, took part in the races. A total of nine races were held, reports the IIC.

The opening program included a festive concert with performances by famous dance and folklore groups, bagshy and pop artists, as well as demonstration performances by athletes and exhibitions of decorative and applied arts.

At the finals of the competition, the winners of nine races were awarded prizes.

In the 29th round of the German football championship, “Bayer” defeated “Werder” Bremen with a score of 5:0 on their field in Leverkusen. The goals scored were Victor Boniface (penalty, 25th minute), Granit Xhaka (60), Florian Wirtz (68, 83, 90).

This victory permitted Leverkusen to extend their unbeaten streak to 43 matches. Xabi Alonso's team is unbeaten this season, with 38 wins and 5 draws in all tournaments. Alonso's team reached the final of the German Cup and the quarterfinals of the Europa League. “Bayer” equaled “Juventus'” record for the longest unbeaten streak among clubs in the top 5 European leagues.

Xabi Alonso has been at the helm of “Bayer” Leverkusen since October 2022 and his contract runs until the summer of 2026. This title was the first trophy in the coaching career of the Spanish specialist.

“Bayer” scored 79 points and broke away from their closest pursuers – “Bayern” and “Stuttgart” (63 points each). For the team from Leverkusen, this is the first championship title in history; before that they won silver medals five times. “Bayer” also has victories in the German Cup (1992/93) and UEFA Cup (1987/88).

The Joint-Stock Commercial Bank of Turkmenistan Senagat has developed the Senagat töleg mobile application for citizens to transfer funds to charity. This was announced during a Government meeting by Deputy Prime Minister H. Geldimyradov.

As the Deputy Prime Minister noted, the Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Children in Need of Care provides financial assistance for various operations to children in medical institutions of the country, for the treatment of young patients raised in orphanages, specialized schools and boarding schools, as well as for the purchase of medical supplies. With the support of the Fund, humanitarian assistance has been provided to a number of States.

In this regard, it was proposed to put into operation the Senagat töleg mobile application, developed by the Joint-Stock Commercial Bank Senagat. It will allow citizens to wirelessly transfer donations to the Charity Fund account.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov approved this proposal aimed at meeting the wishes of the country's citizens and instructed the Deputy Prime Minister to implement the relevant work. The Head of State noted the importance of the activities of the Charitable Foundation, which systematically provides assistance to those in need of care, including children from abroad.

On April 12, a regular meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers was held in Minsk.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan D.Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus S.Aleynik, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan M.Nurtleu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic J.Kulubayev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S. Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan S.Mukhriddin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan B.Saidov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia M.Safaryan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan S.Mukhammetdurdiyev, Secretary General of the CIS S.Lebedev.

In a narrow format, the foreign ministers exchanged views on topical issues on the international agenda and cooperation in the Commonwealth format. A decision was made on the date and place of the next meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is scheduled to be held on October 7, 2024 in Moscow.

In a broad format, the heads of delegations discussed a number of issues, including consideration of the draft Convention on the legal status of delegations sent to the CIS member States. The members of the Council of Ministers approved the document.

The purpose of concluding the Convention is to settle at the international legal level the practical issues of organizing visits by delegations of the Commonwealth countries. The document will define the terminology base, the procedure for sending delegations and appointing appropriate personnel, as well as regulate the privileges and immunities necessary for members of delegations to perform their functions.

The Foreign Ministers have identified the CIS sports capitals for the next two years. In particular, in 2025 the city of Ganja (Republic of Azerbaijan) will receive the status of the Sports Capital of the Commonwealth, in 2026 the city of Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan) will become the sports center of the CIS.

In addition, the meeting approved the results of the implementation of the Action Program to enhance Partnership between the foreign ministries of the Commonwealth countries over the past year.

A statement was also signed at the meeting in connection with the 30th anniversary of the granting of observer status to the CIS at the UN General Assembly.

Turkmenistan will host the 38th meeting of the Conference of Heads and Responsible Representatives of Railway Transport Organizations of the member Countries of the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD), which will be held from April 15 to 19 this year in Ashgabat.

As the Director General of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers, M.Chakyev, the agenda of the 38th OSZhD meeting will consider the results of the activities of specialized Commissions and permanent working groups of the Organization for 2023, discussion of the Work Program for the coming years, as well as the question of the expediency of developing a draft OSZhD Development Strategy. In addition, it is planned to discuss issues of professional training and education of employees of the railway system.

Summarizing the report, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that the country is implementing programmatic measures to develop international transport corridors of regional importance and developing mutually beneficial international cooperation. In this regard, the Head of state instructed the head of the Agency for Transport and Communications to prepare for the 38th meeting of the Conference at a high level.

Mixed martial arts fighter from Turkmenistan Dowletjan Yagshimuradov defeated Slovenian representative Jacob Nedo on April 13 as part of the PFL 2 tournament in Las Vegas.

The light heavyweight fight ended in the first round with the victory of the Turkmen athlete by technical knockout.

For 34-year-old Dowletjan Yagshimuradov, this victory was the fourth in a row in his professional career and his debut at the PFL tournament.

Turkmenistan's Ambassador to China Parakhat Durdiyev met with Wu Yingqing, Executive Director of the Central Asia-China Secretariat.

During the meeting, the parties discussed upcoming events during the transition period, in particular, participation in the third round of consultations of the Secretariat this month in Xi'an, a meeting of foreign ministers of the participating countries of this structure in the second half of this year.

During the meeting, the Turkmen diplomat also spoke about the main directions of Turkmenistan's strategic partnership with China both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the Central Asia–China format.

From April 15 to 20, the State Committee of Turkmenistan for Physical Culture and Sports will hold an international ice hockey tournament in Ashgabat. The matches will take place at the small and large arenas of the Winter Sports Complex. The opening ceremony will take place on April 15 at 13:00 local time.

Hockey teams from 10 countries will take part in the competition: Russia, Belarus, Iran, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Bahrain, as well as the team of Turkmenistan.

The tournament will be held in two stages. At the first stage, the teams divided into two groups will play each other in a round-robin system. The winners of groups "A" and "B" will advance to the finals, and the runners-up will compete for 3rd place.

Match schedule for April 15th:

Group A (Large Arena)

10:00 Phoenix (Uzbekistan) – Oman Khanjars (Oman)
14:00 Galkan (Turkmenistan) – Bahrain (Bahrain)
Group "B" (Small Arena)

10:00 Akmola (Kazakhstan) – Gyumyush Skates (Turkey)
14:00 "Dordoi" (Kyrgyzstan) – "Orchis" (Tatarstan, Russia)

On April 9 and 10, the first matches of the 1/4 finals of the UEFA Champions League were held. “Real Madrid” and “Manchester City” scored six goals between them, “Arsenal” held out a draw in Munich, “Barcelona” escaped defeat in the match with PSG, and “Atletico Madrid” defeated “Borussia”. How these meetings went and when the second matches will be played, read in the Turkmenportal material.
Barcelona – PSG – 3:2

The players of the Spanish “Barcelona” beat the French “Paris Saint-Germain” with a score of 3:2 in the first match of the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The meeting was held in Paris.
Rafinha (37th and 62nd minutes) and Andreas Christensen (77) scored goals for “Barcelona”. Ousmane Dembele (48) and Vitinha (51) scored for PSG.

“Atletico Madrid” – “Borussia Dortmund” – 2:1

In another match, the Spanish “Atletico” beat the German “Borussia” at home with a score of 2:1. Rodrigo de Paul (4th minute) and Samuel Lino (32) scored for the winners. Sebastian Allaire (81) scored for the losers. Return meetings will be held on April 16.

“Real Madrid” – “Manchester City” – 3:3

A day earlier, English “Manchester City” and Spanish “Real Madrid” tied with a score of 3:3. Bernardo Silva (2nd minute), Phil Foden (66) and Josko Guardiol (71) scored goals for “Manchester City”. For “Real Madrid”, Rodrigo (14) and Federico Valverde (79) scored. In the 12th minute, “Manchester City” defender Ruben Dias scored the ball into his own goal.

“Arsenal” – “Bayern” – 2:2

In another match, the English “Arsenal” drew at home with the German “Bayern” (2:2). For the hosts, goals were scored by Bukayo Saka (12th minute) and Leandro Trossard (76). Serge Gnabry (18) and Englishman Harry Kane (32) scored for the guests. Return meetings will be held on April 17.

The Champions League final will be held on June 1 at “Wembley” stadium in London. The current winner of the tournament is the English “Manchester City”, which beat the Italian “Inter” (1:0) in the decisive match of the last edition.

Turkmen chess player Jemal Ovezdurdyeva showed an outstanding result at the 17th open international chess tournament “Georgy Agzamov Memorial” in Uzbekistan, taking first place among women in the strongest group “A”, reports the publication “Turkmenistan: Golden Age”.

247 chess players from 18 countries took part in the competition, which was held according to the Swiss system in 10 rounds. 92 athletes competed in the elite group “A”, including 15 men’s international grandmasters, 13 men’s international masters, 2 women’s grandmasters and 4 women’s international masters.

Turkmenistan was represented by international master Saparmurat Atabayev and FIDE master Jemal Ovezdurdyeva. Atabayev scored 6,5 points and took 10th place, while Ovezdurdyeva with a score of 5,5 points became 27th in the overall standings, but won first place among female participants.

During the tournament, Jemal Ovezdurdyeva won victories over famous grandmasters such as Alexey Alexandrov from Belarus, Igor Yagupov from Russia, as well as over the U14 world champion Afruza Hamdanova from Uzbekistan.

Success at the tournament in Tashkent was another achievement in the successful career of the Turkmen chess player, who is a multiple champion of Turkmenistan among women and winner of a number of prestigious international competitions.