Uzbekistan gains 5th place in the Asian Games 2018. Uzbek boxers and wrestlers dominated in the tournament

On September 1, the final matches of the Asian Games were held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia. Right after a day, on the morning of September 2, the closing ceremony of the tournament was organized following the triathlon contest.

Uzbekistan demonstrated superb results at the Asian Games 2018.

331 athletes from Uzbekistan took part in the tournament and defended the honor of our country in 30 kinds of sports.

The Uzbek delegation won 70 medals in total, out of which 21 are gold, 24 are silver and 25 are bronze.

To date, the Guangzhou 2010 Games was the most productive for Uzbekistan team, with 56 medals bagged in total (11 gold, 22 silver, 23 bronze). The record for winning gold and bronze medals was observed at the 2002 Pusan tournament. Athletes from Uzbekistan won 15 gold and 24 bronze medals at the 2002 Asian Games (15-12-24). Most silver won in the Bangkok 1998 and the Guangzhou 2010 tournaments (22).

However outstanding were the results, Uzbekistan could not improve its overall ranking in the Asian Games. Our athletes hit the same position as their predecessors did in the Hiroshima 1994 and Pusan 2002 tournaments.

Up until today, Uzbekistan took part in seven Asian Games:

1. Hiroshima 1994: 11 gold, 12 silver and 19 bronze medals (42 medals in total). 5th place in the overall ranking;

2. Bangkok 1998: 6 gold, 22 silver and 12 bronze medals. (40 medals in total). 10th place in the overall ranking;

3. Pusan 2002: 15 gold, 12 silver and 24 bronze medals. (51 medals in total). 5th place in the overall ranking;

4. Doha 2006: 11 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze medals. (40 medals in total). 7th place in the overall ranking;

5. Guangzhou 2010: 11 gold, 22 silver and 23 bronze medals. (56 medals in total). 8th place in the overall ranking;

6. Incheon 2014: 9 gold, 14 silver and 22 bronze medals. (45 medals in total). 11th place in the overall ranking;

7. Jakarta and Palembang 2018: 21 gold, 24 silver and 25 bronze medals. (70 medals in total). 5th place in the overall ranking.

Uzbek National Kurash, a game which was introduced in the Asian Games for the first time, brought most medals to our team (six gold, two silver and four bronze medals). Boxing championship was also productive with 5 gold and 2 silver medals. It is worth noting that all the boxers attending the 18th Asian Games qualified for the final in the tournament and bagged corresponding medals in their respective weight categories.

Freestyle wrestlers have also added 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals to the team’s stock, while the canoe matches brought 8 (1-3-4), taekwondo 6 (1-3-2), powerlifting 5 (1-2-2), track and field athletics 4 (1-2-1), rowing 4 (1-2-1), sambo 4 (1-1-2), judo 4 (1-0-3), tennis 1 (gold), artistic gymnastics 2 (silver), karate 3 (1 silver, 2 bronze), cycling, wushu and gymnastics 3 (1 silver each), and pencak silat 1 (bronze) medals.

It should be noted that 9704 athletes from 45 countries visited the tournament. 476 sets of medals on 42 kinds of sports were played.

Final result of the tournament says the Chinese athletes had a clear superiority in the number of medals gained (132 gold, 92 silver and 65 bronze). The second and third places were taken by Japan (74-56-74) and South Korea (49-57-7) respectively. Indonesia, who played host in the 18th Asian Games, occupied the fourth place, with 98 medals (31-24-43). Out of the 31 gold medals, 15 were taken from Pencak Silat, a national sports game in Indonesia.

The Kazakh delegation, which was expected to show a higher result in the tournament, was ranked ninth with 76 medals (15-17-44).

Briefly stating, out of 45 delegations attended, 37 bagged at least one medal. Among them are Kyrgyzstan (ranked 22 with 2 gold, 6 silver and 12 bronze medals), Iraq (ranked 27 with 1 gold and 2 silver medals), Unified team of South and North Korea (ranked 28 with 1 gold, one silver and 2 bronze medals), Tajikistan (ranked 30 with 4 silver and 3 bronze medals), Turkmenistan (ranked 32 with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals), Pakistan (ranked 34 with 4 bronze medals), Afghanistan (ranked 35 with 2 bronze medals) and Syria (with 1 bronze medal).

Uzbek athletes renewed scores of Asian Games records in the competition. Svetnala Radzivil, jumping higher than 196 centimeters, became a three-time Asian champion and renewed her own record, which was set in 2010. Ruslan Nuriddinov, a Rio champion, was also unrivaled in the powerlifting contest. He turned into new records man of the Asian Games in powerlifting. Vadim Menkov came to be four-time Asian Champion in rowing. Prior to this such a result was never recorded in any of the Asian games.

The boxing team of Uzbekistan showed a clear domination in the tournament and took the first place decisively.

Jasurbek Latipov (52kg), Miraziz Mirzakhalilov (56kg), Iqboljon Kholdorov (64 kg), Bobousmon Baturov (69kg) and Israil Madrimov (75 kg) secured gold medals in their weight categories, while Khasanboy Dusmatov (49 kg) suffered an unexpected defeat from his opponent Amit Panghal of India. Shunqor Abdurasulov, another finalist in the boxing championship, did also concede defeat in the weight category up to 60 kg and had to bag a silver medal.

Results of the men’s boxing championship in the Asian Games 2018 are as follows:

1. Uzbekistan – 5 gold and 2 silver medals

2. Mongolia – 1 gold and 1 silver medal

3. India – 1 gold and 1 bronze medal

4. Kazakhstan – 2 silver medals

5. The Philippines – 1 silver and 2 bronze medals 

6. Democratic People's Republic of Korea – 1 silver and 1 bronze medal

7. Thailand – 4 bronze medals

8. China – 3 bronze medals

9. Indonesia – 1 bronze medal

10. Jordan – 1 bronze medal

11. Kyrgyzstan – 1 bronze medal

12. Japan – 1 bronze medal

The Uzbek wrestlers also showed superiority over their opponents. The wrestling competitions were organized in 7 weight categories, and out of 14 wrestlers, 12 received corresponding medals (6 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze). It is noteworthy that in two finals four Uzbek athletes wrestled for gold. In the weight category up to 90 kg Yahyo Imamov and Shermuhammad Jandriev, and in the weight category up to 66 kg Maruf Gaybulloev and Ruslan Buriev competed for a yellow metal. Furthermore, Uzbek athletes Svetlana Radzivil and Nadiya Dusanova shared gold and silver medals in the high-jump contests.

The Uzbek delegation returned to Tashkent on Sunday, September 2.