Turkmen judoka Hekim Agamammedov won a bronze medal at the Grand Slam tournament, Tokyo Grand Slam 2023, which ended in the capital of Japan, reports the publication “Turkmenistan: Golden Age”.
The two-day tournament brought together 506 athletes from 84 countries, who competed for 14 sets of medals in 7 men's and 7 women's weight categories. Among its participants were many famous judokas, including 5 current Olympic champions and 8 current world champions.
24-year-old Hekim Agamammedov became a bronze medalist in the up to 66 kg weight category, in which 48 judokas from 35 countries competed for medals.
On the way to this success, he won five victories. In the first round, Hekim won a clear victory over Ari Berliner from the USA. In the second fight, he defeated Yashar Najafov from Azerbaijan. In the third round, the Turkmen judoka defeated Radu Izvoreanu from Moldova. However, in the fight for reaching the semi-finals, he lost to Daiki Boubet (France) and was forced to get to the podium through a consolation tournament.
In the next two meetings, Agamammedov snatched victory from Willian Lima from Brazil, and then beat Erhembayar Battogtokh from Mongolia and climbed to the third step of the podium.
The second bronze medalist in this weight category was the current number one in the world ranking, Denis Vieru from Moldova. Bashu Yondonparenlein from Mongolia climbed to the second step of the podium. And the winner of Tokyo Grand Slam 2023 gold was Hifumi Abe from Japan, who achieved a clear victory in the second minute of the final match.
At the award ceremony in such an eminent campaign of judoists, the Turkmen athlete was awarded a bronze medal by the President of the Mongolian Judo Association Battulga Khaltmaagiin, after which the National Flag of Turkmenistan was raised in honor of the success of Hekim Agamammedov under the arches of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Palace.
Previously, Turkmen judokas had never stood on the podium in the prestigious Grand Slam competitions, the winners of which receive ranking points to participate in the World Championships and Olympic Games. Previously, the best result at such tournaments was 5th place in 2014 in Baku by Gulbadam Babamuratova.
It is noted that Hekim Agamammedov began practicing judo in the city of Turkmenbashy with his first coach Rashid Huseynov. Currently, he is improving his sports skills under the guidance of the senior coach of the men's team, Gahryman Amandurdyev, and the head coach of the national team, Japanese specialist Kazuhiko Tokuno.
