Sport
Turkmenistan will be represented by 34 athletes at the Asian Games in Japan
20.09.2026The 20th Asian Summer Games, the continent’s largest sporting event, will get underway on 19 September in Aichi Prefecture and the city of Nagoya, Japan. The opening ceremony will take place at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, according to the news website Turkmenportal. The competitions will run from 19 September to 4 October 2026. In addition to Aichi and Nagoya, individual events will be hosted by Tokyo, Osaka, and the prefectures of Shizuoka and Gifu. In the run-up to the opening, a three-day welcome ceremony for the national delegations was held, featuring the raising of national flags and the playing of national anthems. On the final day, the flags were raised for the delegations from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Thailand, Kazakhstan and the Philippines. Turkmenistan will be represented at the Games by 34 athletes. They will compete in eight of the 43 sports included in the programme: freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, wushu, boxing, swimming, weightlifting, kurash, athletics and karate-do.
Turkmen football club ‘Arkadag’ got off to a winning start in the AFC Champions League 2
16.09.2026‘Arkadag’ Football Club beat Bahrain’s ‘Al-Muharraq’ 1–0 in their first match of the AFC Champions League 2 group stage. The Group B fixture took place at the ‘Arkadag’ Stadium in Turkmenistan, according to IIC of Turkmenistan. The only goal came in the 52nd minute, scored by Mekan Saparov with a precise header from a corner. Towards the end of the match, ‘Arkadag’ goalkeeper Rustem Ahallyev saved several shots from the opposition and kept a clean sheet. The match, played at the 10,000-capacity stadium, was officiated by a team of referees from Sri Lanka. ‘Arkadag’ have now secured three points. In the next round on 14 October, the Turkmen club will play away against ‘Al-Jazira’.
Athletes from Turkmenistan won 11 medals at the Central Asian Championships
15.09.2026Athletes from the Turkmenistan national athletics team won 11 medals – 2 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze – at the 3rd Central Asian Open Championships, which took place in Tashkent. The medals were won in short- and middle-distance running, relays, the hammer throw and the shot put. This was reported by the news website Turkmenportal. At the end of the tournament, the Uzbekistan national team took first place in the overall standings, Kazakhstan came second and Turkmenistan third. More than 500 athletes from nine countries – Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Georgia – took part in the competition. The Turkmenistan national team was represented by 12 athletes from various age groups. Enejan Esedova won the gold medal in the 400-metre race with a time of 54.93 seconds, adding to this a silver in the 4×100-metre and mixed 4×400-metre relays. Another gold for the team was secured by Mergen Mamedov, a Merited Master of Sport, who threw the hammer 70.90 metres. Gurbannazar Kakajayev won the silver medal in the shot put (15.79 metres). Valentina Meredova, who represented her country at the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and Paris (2024), won bronze in the 100-metre race and silver in the mixed 4×100-metre relay. Her protégés – Gurban Orazov and Aysha Charyeva – also made it onto the podium in the relay events.
Turkmen karateka wins silver at the Asian Championships
11.09.2026Gurbannazar Amandurdyev, a 17-year-old karateka from Turkmenistan, won a silver medal at the 24th Asian Cadet, Junior and Under-21 Championships in Amman. This was reported by the news agency ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’. The Turkmen athlete finished second in the kumite competition for juniors under 17 in the under-55kg weight category. The Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Championships brought together 338 athletes from 21 countries in the Jordanian capital. Turkmenistan is represented by three athletes and an international-level referee. This is Amandurdyev’s second medal at the Asian Championships. In 2025, he won bronze at the continental championships in Shaoguan, China. The athlete began practising karate as a child. In January 2020, he won silver at an international tournament in Turkey for children under 10 in the under-30 kg weight category. In 2024 and 2026, Amandurdyev also won bronze medals at stages of the ‘Karate One-Youth League’ of the World Karate Federation (WKF) in Fujairah (UAE). He is currently in the 12th year at Specialised Secondary School No. 16 in the Ak Bugday etrap of the Ahal velayat. He is coached by Aydin Charyev, head coach of the Turkmenistan national team. Amandurdyev is among the contenders for a place at the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games, which will take place in Dakar from 31 October to 13 November 2026.
The Turkmenistan national team will compete in an international tournament in China
10.09.2026The Turkmenistan national football team will take part in the CFA Team China International Football Competitions Chongqing 2026, an international tournament to be held in the Chinese city of Chongqing. This was reported by IIC of Turkmenistan. Five national teams will take part in the competition: Turkmenistan, China, New Zealand, Palestine and Tajikistan. The Turkmenistan national team will kick off their campaign on 24 September with a match against New Zealand. On 28 September, they will face the Palestinian national team. Turkmenistan’s final match will be against the tournament hosts, the Chinese national team. The match will take place on 2 October at 19:35 Beijing Time in Chongqing.
Turkmenistan’s national teams will compete at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand
09.09.2026The Turkmenistan national teams will take part in the 46th World Chess Olympiad, which will be held in Samarkand from 15 to 27 September. This was reported by the news agency Orient. The country will be represented by men’s and women’s teams, each comprising five chess players. The women’s team comprises Leyla Shohradova, Lala Shohradova, Jahan Rejepova, Myahri Agamyradova and Ogulsuray Bayrambayeva. The men’s team will be represented by Saparmyrat Atabayev, Meylis Annaberdiyev, Amanmuhammet Hommadov, Vepaly Halyniyazov and Shahrukh Turayev. Preparation for the Olympiad included training camps in Kazakhstan, including in Kokshetau.
Referees from Turkmenistan officiated at the Japan vs Kuwait match in Cambodia
04.09.2026Referees from Turkmenistan officiated the first-round match of the qualifying round for the 2027 AFC Youth Football Cup (under-20s) between the national teams of Japan and Kuwait. This was reported by the news website Turkmenportal. The match was refereed by international referee Resul Mammedov, with Ahmet Begnazarov serving as the assistant referee. The Group ‘G’ match took place on 31 August at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Japan won the match 4–0. The federation highlighted the high standard of the Turkmen referees’ work on the international stage.
Turkmen wrestlers won gold and bronze at the Nomad Games
03.09.2026Athletes from Turkmenistan won gold and bronze on the first day of the wrestling competition at the 6th World Nomad Games, which are being held in the Kyrgyz Republic. This was reported by the news website Turkmenportal. On 1 September, at the ‘Gazprom’ sports and fitness centre in Cholpon-Ata, the competitions in the over-100kg weight category for three wrestling disciplines – Mongolian wrestling, kurash and goresh – came to an end. This was announced by the tournament organisers. Annagurban Allaberdiyev secured gold for the Turkmen national team by winning the Goresh – the national style of wrestling. The silver in this discipline went to Asankeldi Nurkazym uulu of Kyrgyzstan, whilst the bronze medals were shared between athletes from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Kemal Kemalov added another medal to the Turkmenistan team’s tally by winning bronze in kurash. First place in this wrestling discipline went to Numonjon Rajabov of Uzbekistan, with silver going to Sadegh Azarang of Iran, whilst the second bronze was won by a representative from Kyrgyzstan. In Mongolian wrestling, the gold was won by Anar Dorj of Mongolia, the silver by Monge Ertine Kuular of Russia, and the bronze medals went to athletes from China and Kyrgyzstan. The winners of the competitions received cash prizes of 100,000 som, the silver medallists 80,000 som, and the bronze medallists 50,000 som. The 6th World Nomad Games are taking place from 31 August to 6 September, with the main events organised in Cholpon-Ata. Athletes from more than 100 countries are taking part in the events, which feature competitions across 43 sports.
A chess player from Turkmenistan scored 8 points out of 9 at a tournament in Abu Dhabi
31.08.2026Turkmen chess player Allayar Shirliyev won the Open A category at the 32nd International Chess Festival in Abu Dhabi. The tournament took place at the Radisson Blu Hotel on the Corniche and was organized by the Abu Dhabi Chess Club and Center for Intellectual Games—one of the region's largest intellectual forums, attracting hundreds of participants annually, according to the ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’ news agency. The Open A category was contested using the Swiss system over nine rounds with classical time control. The 22-year-old from Ashgabat, seeded seventh with a FIDE rating of 2184 and a Candidate for Master of Sport, scored 8 points out of 9 and took first place outright. Second and third places went to International Masters Bashir Eiti (Syria) and Richilieu III Salcedo (Philippines) – each with 7.5 points. Following the tournament, Shirliyev’s FIDE rating rose by 40.6 points. At the same time, tournaments in the Masters, Open B and Juniors U16 categories were held in Abu Dhabi. The line-up for the Grandmaster tournament included Daniil Dubov, Pa Iniyan, Anand Pranav, S. L. Narayanan, Abhijeet Gupta, David Paravyan, Alexander Rakhmanov and Ivan Zemlyansky. Shirliyev’s victory continued a successful run of performances by Turkmen athletes during the summer of 2026. From 16 to 26 August, Mumbai hosted the Asian Under-20 Junior Championships, where chess player Lala Shohradova won gold in the rapid event, adding to the silver she had won in the blitz event on 17 August. Earlier this summer, the Turkmenistan national team won 16 medals at the Central and North Asian Championships in Kyrgyzstan.
Turkmen wrestling has been included in the programme of the World Nomad Games
30.08.2026The 6th World Nomad Games will take place in Kyrgyzstan from 31 August to 6 September 2026. The competition programme includes more than 40 national sports and games from the participating countries, including Turkmen national wrestling, according to the press office of the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport of Turkmenistan. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Games will take place in Bishkek, whilst the competitions will be held at Issyk-Kul. According to the organisers, more than 100,000 people from friendly nations are expected to take part in this international event, which is held every two years. Whilst 19 countries took part in the first Games, held in 2014, a record number of participating nations is expected in 2026: representatives from around 20 countries will take part in these traditional sports competitions for the first time. The World Nomad Games have become an international platform for the preservation and development of the sporting and cultural heritage of peoples. The inclusion of Turkmen national wrestling in the Games’ programme reflects its status amongst national sports. For Turkmenistan, participation in the event is of particular significance: in the year marking the 35th anniversary of independence, Turkmen athletes will have the opportunity to showcase their national sporting traditions on the international stage.
The Turkmenistan national team has learnt its opponents for the 2027 AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualifiers
30.08.2026Turkmenistan’s U17 national team will compete in Group F of the 2027 AFC Cup qualifiers alongside teams from Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and the Northern Mariana Islands. The draw took place at the Asian Football Confederation headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, according to the news agency ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’. A total of 35 national teams will compete in the qualifiers, divided into seven groups. Group F matches will be played in Bishkek from 8 to 20 November 2026 in a single round-robin format. On 8 November, Turkmenistan will face Kyrgyzstan, on 14 November – Mongolia, and on 17 November – the Northern Mariana Islands. The final match against Yemen will take place on 20 November. The winners of the seven groups will qualify for the U-17 Asian Cup finals, which will be held in Uzbekistan from 12 to 29 May 2027. They will be joined by nine teams that have automatically qualified following the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar: Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The Turkmenistan U17 national team is being prepared for the tournament by a coaching staff led by Azat Muhadov. In April, the team finished fourth at the Central Asian Football Association Championship (CAFA-2026) in Uzbekistan.
Turkmen football officials are undergoing training as part of the AFC programme
27.08.2026The third and final stage of the professional training programme for managers, organised jointly by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Football Federation of Turkmenistan, has begun in Turkmenistan. The five-day course is taking place from 25 to 29 August, according to the IIC of Turkmenistan. The programme aims to develop football management and enhance the skills of specialists in the field, drawing on international experience. Upon completion of the course, participants will be awarded certificates.
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