Turkmenistan’s national sambo team continues to impress at the ongoing Youth World Championship in Indonesia, claiming five medals after two days of competition, including their first gold.

The gold medal was secured by 18-year-old freshman Islam Khemrayev from the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports. Competing in the combat sambo junior category (under 20) up to 71 kg, he outperformed three rivals, culminating in an 8:0 victory in the final against Gadir Gashimov, who competed under the FIAS flag.

In the women's sport sambo (under 50 kg), 19-year-old third-year student Ykbal Saparova earned silver. She won her quarterfinal and semifinal bouts convincingly but was defeated in the final by Russia’s Sofia Soluyanova, a two-time U18 world champion.

The bronze medal came from 18-year-old Ilshat Dovranov of the National Martial Arts Federation of Turkmenistan. Competing in the 58 kg category (under 18), he worked his way up through the repechage, finishing with a win over a French athlete to secure third place.

After two days, Turkmenistan has earned 1 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze medal. Previously, Rasul Dzhabrailov (64 kg) and Malikberdi Begiyev (88 kg) each took silver in combat sambo on day one.

The championship has drawn 383 athletes from 34 nations, who are battling for 37 sets of medals in both sport and combat sambo for boys and girls (16–18) and juniors (18–20).