Alp Arslan Begenjov, a 19-year-old international master of sports from Ashgabat, won his first bronze medal at the Asian adult freestyle wrestling championships, which concluded in Bishkek.
The 2nd-year student of the Turkmen state institute of finance achieved this success in the 86 kg weight category, in which 15 athletes competed for medals.In his first two fights, Alp Arslan won 10-0 stoppage victories over Byambadorj Bat Erdene (Mongolia) and Bahodur Kodirov (Tajikistan).
Then, in the semi-final, he lost 0:11 to 29-year-old two-time world and Asian champion Kamran Ghorban Ghasempur (Iran), who was competing in Asian competitions for the first time since 2021 and won bronze at the world championships of the last year in Albania.
In the fight for 3rd place, A.Begenjov won against the bronze medallist of the 2024 Asian youth championship (under 23) Yudai Takahashi (Japan) 5:1 and was awarded the bronze medal.
The second bronze in this weight class went to Hidir Kurban Saypudinov from Bahrain, who defeated Bolat Sakayev (Kazakhstan) 2:1.The Asian champion was Iranian Kamran Ghorban Ghasempur, who defeated Mukul Dahiya (India) in the final 7:0.
The bronze medal of Alp Arslan Begenjov was the first of Turkmenistan in wrestling since 2018 and its first in freestyle wrestling of the men at the Asian Championships.
The last time a Turkmen athlete achieved such success was eight years ago, when Greco-Roman wrestler Shermet Permanov won bronze in the 77 kg weight category at the 2018 Asian Championships in Bishkek.
Alp Arslan first made headlines in 2022, when he won the Constantin Alexandru & Ioan W.Popovici international U17 cadets tournament in Romania and won the gold medal in the same age category at the Asian championship in Bishkek.
In 2023, he won bronze at the Asian U17 Championship.And in 2024, he won his first gold at the Asian and world championships among athletes under 20 years old, in Thailand and Spain, respectively.
In 2025, A.Begenjov won a silver medal at the Asian youth championship (under 23) in Vietnam and a bronze medal at the Asian championship (under 20) in Kyrgyzstan.
For the last two years, Alp Arslan has achieved success in the 79 kg weight category, and since 2026 he has been competing in a new weight class 86 kg.
And, as it turned out, successfully.Alp Arslan Begenjov learned the basics of freestyle wrestling from his uncle in Ashgabat and also trained in the section of the head coach of the Turkmenistan cadet team, Berdi Atabayev.
Currently, he is improving his skills under the guidance of Batyr Orazgylyjov, silver medallist of the 5th Asian indoor and martial arts games and now head coach of the Turkmenistan U20 youth team.
After winning the world youth championships in freestyle wrestling for athletes under 20 years old in Pontevedra, Spain two years ago, Alp Arslan Begenjov said: I am not physically strong enough for the adult level yet.
I need to train harder to win the senior world title.Let us hope that over time the talented Turkmen wrestler will fulfil his dream.