Shahzadbek Matyakubov, a 22-year-old student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, secured a silver medal in the men's 110kg weightlifting category at the XX Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. The result marks the second silver for the Turkmenistan national team in the competition.
The competition in the 110kg category featured 11 athletes, including Olympic and world champions. Matyakubov began with a consistent performance in the snatch, successfully completing all three attempts (180kg, 184kg, and 188kg), which placed him third at the midpoint. He trailed by only 1kg behind Chen Po-zhen of Chinese Taipei (189kg) and stayed ahead of Paris 2024 Olympic champion Liu Huanhua of China (185kg), while Uzbekistan's Akbar Djuraev led with a new world record of 197kg.
The clean and jerk phase transitioned into a tactical struggle. After failing his first attempt at 217kg, Matyakubov's head coach, Meretguly Sakhetmyradov, opted to increase the starting weight for the second attempt to allow the athlete time to recover. This move forced opponents to push toward their physical limits.
Matyakubov bypassed the 220kg mark and requested 222kg. Despite an initial failure that put him at risk of a "no-lift" total, he successfully lifted 222kg on his final attempt. This brought his total to 410kg, surpassing Liu Huanhua (405kg) by 5kg.
The silver medal was further solidified when Liu Huanhua's attempt at 226kg was disallowed by two of the three judges. Meanwhile, Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan secured the gold with a new Asian Games record total of 423kg (197kg + 226kg).
Matyakubov's podium finish is his first in the adult category at the Asian Games and his debut in the 110kg weight class. His athletic trajectory began in the Akdepine district of the Dashoguz region under the guidance of his brother, Nabijon Matyakubov. His recent track record includes a gold at the 2023 Asian Junior Championships in Delhi and three gold medals at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Leon, Spain, where he set a world junior record in the clean and jerk (216kg).
Other Turkmen weightlifters competed without reaching the podium:
- Bektimur Reyimov (75kg) finished 5th with a total of 337kg.
- Anamdjan Rustomova (86kg), a third-year student at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, finished 4th with 258kg, missing the bronze by just 1kg.
- Ogulshat Amanova (53kg), a two-time world junior champion, placed 9th with 191kg.
In other sporting disciplines, the results were more varied. In Kurash, six Turkmen athletes failed to medal despite previous successes in Ashgabat and Hangzhou. Notably, 2023 world champion Sabina Kadyrova (78kg) was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
In Greco-Roman wrestling, none of the three representatives reached the top three. 17-year-old Aslan Agadadayev (130kg) finished 5th, while Amanberdy Agamammedov (97kg) also placed 5th. Azatdjan Achilov (60kg) was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
In freestyle wrestling, Ziyamukhammet Saparov (125kg) came close to a medal, leading 4:1 in the bronze medal match against Kazakhstan's Edige Kasymbek before ultimately losing 4:14. Alp Arslan Begendzhov (86kg) reached the quarterfinals before being defeated by Mongolia's Suldkhuu Olonbayar. Shatlyk Khemelyaev (97kg) is scheduled to compete in the final day of the tournament.
Turkmenistan's track and field athletes concluded their qualification rounds with Lukman Gurbandurdyev (200m) finishing 25th and Enedjan Esedova (200m) finishing 21st.
