Shakarmamad Mirmamadov wins Tajikistan’s fifth medal at 2026 Asian Games

Tajikistan’s national team has won its fifth medal at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, with Shakarmamad Mirmamadov taking silver in the over-90kg kurash competition.

Mirmamadov reached the final after winning three consecutive bouts. He defeated India’s Yash Kumar Chauhan 10-0 in the opening round, South Korea’s Jeon Chan-young 5-0 in the quarter-final and Thailand’s Kunathip Ye-on 10-0 in the semi-final.

In the gold-medal bout, Mirmamadov faced Uzbekistan’s Shokhrukhhon Bakhtiyor. The Uzbek athlete won 5-0 to claim gold, while Mirmamadov took silver.

Mirmamadov’s second Asian Games medal

The silver is Mirmamadov’s second Asian Games medal. He won bronze in kurash at the previous Games in Hangzhou.

Kurash has traditionally contributed medals to Tajikistan’s Asian Games tally. Before the Aichi-Nagoya Games, Tajik athletes had won three medals in the discipline: silver for Behrouz Khojazoda in 2018 and bronze medals for Haqhnazar Nazarov and Mirmamadov in Hangzhou.

Mirmamadov’s silver brings Tajikistan’s current medal tally to five — two gold, two silver and one bronze.

The country’s two gold medals were won by Mirzobek Umarov in Modern MMA in the 60kg category and Otabek Rajabov in the 65kg category. Umarov defeated fellow Uzbek Firdavs Atamuratov in the final, while Rajabov beat the Philippines’ Jean-Claude Saclag.

Behrouz Khurshedzoda won silver in the 71kg amateur MMA category after losing to Kazakhstan’s Kadyrbek Shinbayev in the final.

Karateka Makhsatullo Mu’minov won Tajikistan’s first medal at the Games, taking bronze in the men’s 55kg kumite. He defeated Indonesia’s Muhammad Tegar Januwar 8-0 in the bronze-medal bout after losing 7-0 to Kazakhstan’s Zholaman Bigabyl in the quarter-final.

The 20th Summer Asian Games are being held from September 19 to October 4 in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya. More than 11,000 athletes from 45 countries are competing for medals in 43 sports.

Tajikistan is represented by 104 athletes competing in 21 sports.

Following Mirmamadov’s silver, Tajikistan is sharing 17th place with Qatar in the medal standings.

China leads the standings with 119 gold, 48 silver and 38 bronze medals, for a total of 205. Host Japan is second with 37 gold, 62 silver and 58 bronze medals, while South Korea is third with 21 gold, 23 silver and 39 bronze.

Among Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan is fourth with 10 gold, 17 silver and 11 bronze medals. Kazakhstan is fifth with nine gold, 10 silver and 21 bronze.

Since making its Asian Games debut in Hiroshima in 1994, Tajikistan has won 35 medals — six gold, eight silver and 21 bronze.