19.09.2008

State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH)

Medals of all values of the International Issyk-Kul Sports Games

The Turkmen sportsmen won two gold, seven silver and five bronze medals in the 8th Issyk-Kul International Sports Games. The sport event organized by the International Confederation of Sports Organisations is held in Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyz Republic) each year.

This year over 2,000 sportsmen from China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Russia competed in 16 sports. The programme of the Sports Games held under the motto “Asia – the region of cooperation and peace” included darts, swimming, table tennis and track and field athletics. The Turkmen family teams competed in darts, big and table tennis, beach volleyball and volleyball, track and field athletics and family team competitions.

Andrey Antonov from the Ashgabat Table Tennis School defeated a Kyrgyz tennis-player A. Saparbaev and won the gold medal. Together with his daughter Victoria Andrey was the best family team of the tournament.

The Antonovs won the silver medal in the track and field athletics and darts events, a businessman Alexander Balian from Ashgabat – in the tennis tournament, the Turkmen men’s team– in the volleyball tournament, the chief foreman of the wagon, passenger and cargo depot of the Ashgabat Railway Depatment Annamurad Charyev ranked the second in the darts tournament, a tailor's cutter of the Ashgabat Textile Complex Ejebay Nurryeva – in the 1,000-m event and Rashid Akhmedov – in the under-35 men’s table tennis tournament. The bronze winners are Rashid Akhmedov, Alexander Balian (big tennis), Ejebay Nurryeva (2,008 m), the Antonovs (swimming), Andrey Antonov (table tennis).

The gold medals and the titles of laureates of the Issyk-Kul International Sports Games were awarded to Chairman of the Ellada Amateur Athletics Club from Ashgabat 71-year-old Murad Karliev, the eldest participant of the competitions, who had taken part in four events of the track and field athletics tournaments (long jump, shot put, 100 m running and 3 km running) and 10-year-old third former from the A. S. Pushkin Turkmen-Russian School Victoria Antonova who had won the table tennis tournament twice.

The special prize was awarded to Chief Coach of the Turkmen national team Berdymurad Meredov for contribution to the international sport movement.

The Turkmen team will take part in the CIS Workers’ Sports Games, which will be held in Kishinev on September 24-28.