The Turkmenistan national chess team won five medals – one gold and four bronze – at the West Asian Junior Championships, which ended in the capital of Tajikistan, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reports.

The gold medal was awarded to Leyla Shokhradova from the Lebap velayat, who became the best in the under 18 age category in blitz. The athlete scored 8.5 points out of 9 possible (8 wins and one draw).

The bronze medal in the under 8 age group was won by Ashgabat resident Charykhekim Charyev (rating 1732 points) from the chess club of the Bagtyyarlyk sports complex. For the young athlete, a two-time national champion in his age group, this award was his debut in the international arena.

Turkmen chess players received three more bronze medals in the under 10 category. Maksat Avlyakuliev (1739 points), Didar Khupbyev (1613 points) and Myrat Merdanov (1808 points) distinguished themselves in the team standings in all three disciplines of the competition - the classical version, rapid and blitz.

About 400 chess players from 13 countries took part in the championship, including Russia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Afghanistan and Kuwait.

Currently, Turkmen chess players are preparing for the International Junior Tournament, which will be held from June 15 to 19 in Ashgabat.