Turkmen karatekas won three bronze medals at the 22nd Asian Championship among cadets and juniors under 21, which ended today in Manila.

The competition, held by the Asian Karate Federation WKF in the capital of the Philippines, brought together 561 athletes from 30 countries.

WKF is the English abbreviation of the name of the World Karate Federation, which includes 200 countries representing five continental federations. Today, it is the only karate organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee and has more than one hundred million members.

The Turkmenistan team at the Asian championship was represented by 10 athletes, 2 coaches and 3 international judges.

As previously reported, the first bronze medal in our team was won in kumite among cadets in the weight category up to 57 kg by a 9th-grade student of Ashgabat Secondary Specialized School No. 61 Alymuhammet Kakaliyev.

On the final day of the competition, the collection of the Turkmenistan team was replenished with two more bronze medals. They were won by an athlete of the Karatedo Federation of Turkmenistan Magtymguly Annayev and a 4th-year student of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Davut Nazmyradov. Both achieved success in kumite in the age category up to 21 years: Magtymguly - in the weight category up to 55 kg, in which 13 athletes competed for the awards, and Davut - in the weight category up to 75 kg, where 16 karatekas competed.

On the way to the medal, M. Annayev won two victories. In the first match, he won against Hasimudin Ak Ahmad Munib Ayman (Brunei) – 10:2, in the second he lost to Truong Nam Tien (Vietnam) – 4:8. Thanks to the Vietnamese reaching the final, Magtymguly received the right to fight for bronze in the consolation tournament. In a tense medal match, our compatriot defeated Salem Aladjmi (Kuwait) – 9:8 and rose to the third step of the podium.

Davut Nazmyradov achieved the same success, winning three victories. In the first round, he won against Muhammadali Saimatov (Uzbekistan) – 6:3, and in the second he defeated Abdulrahman Al-Mohanadi (Qatar) – 10:0. Having then lost in the semi-final to Mohammadirfan Askaripur (Iran) - 4:11, Davut was content with the right to the match for 3rd place, in which he won against Lu Vo Anh Duy (Vietnam) - 10:2 and was awarded the bronze medal.

Earlier this year, M. Annaev and D. Nazmyradov won the 9th Central Asian Championship in Samarkand. And now they have become bronze medalists of the Asian Championship. Magtymguly began to study karate with the coach of the sports school of the Ak Bugday etrap of the Main Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Ahal velayat Amangeldi Byashimov, and Davut - with the coach of the 1st sports school of Balkanabat of the Balkan velayat Nazmammet Shatlykgulyev. Currently, both athletes are improving their skills in the Turkmenistan national team under the guidance of head coach, 5th dan black belt holder Aydin Charyev.