Turkmen judoka Kyakilik Deryaeva won a bronze medal at the Asian Cup among cadets in Almaty. The 15-year-old protégé of two-time world sambo champion Gulbadam Babamuratova achieved success in the weight category up to 48 kg, where 25 athletes from five countries competed for the awards.

As reported by the online newspaper "Golden Age", on her way to the podium, Deryaeva won four victories. In the first round, she won a clear victory (ippon) over Sarvinoz Abdusamadova from Uzbekistan in the 36th second, then also won by ippon over Mongolian judoka Hongorzul Ariunzorig. In the quarterfinals, the Turkmen athlete lost to Uzbek Nargiza Dustmamtova, after which she won by ippon over another representative of Uzbekistan, Zarnigor Ulashova, in the consolation tournament, and in the fight for bronze, she prevailed over Kazakhstan's Zlata Shvaigert.

The gold medal in this weight category was won by Uzbek Gulmira Kholmurzaeva, the silver by Kazakh Asel Ruslanova. The second bronze award was received by Nargiza Dustmamtova from Uzbekistan.

Kyakilik Deryaeva has been practicing judo since 2019. She learned the basics of the Olympic sport from Batyr Annayev, and is currently training under the guidance of Gulbadam Babamuratova and the head coach of the women's national team of Turkmenistan, Tatyana Vidyasova.

This is the first serious success of the talented Turkmen judoka at international competitions.

The Asian Judo Cup among cadets and juniors held in Almaty brought together 788 athletes from 11 countries - Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Russia, the USA, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Turkmenistan team is represented by 31 judokas.

Gulbadam Babamuratova is a Turkmen sambo wrestler, two-time world sambo champion, and Honored Master of Sports of Turkmenistan. She first won the title of the strongest sambo wrestler on the planet in 2012 at the World Championships in Minsk. In 2017, the 26-year-old athlete repeated her success by winning a gold medal at the 41st World Sambo Championships in Sochi. Babamuratova is a multiple winner of major international competitions. For outstanding sporting achievements, she was awarded the Order of Turkmenistan "Garaşsyz Türkmenistana bolan beýik söýgüsi üçin".