By Nick Butler

Gulbadam Babamuratova (second left) celebrates winning the first gold medal of Phuket 2014 ©OCASambo star Gulbadam Bahamuratova of Turkmenistan won the first gold medal of the Asian Beach Games on Phuket's Karon Beach today, beating Kazakhstan's Leila Konuspayeva in the final.


The 23-year-old from Ashgabat, winner of the World Championship title in 2012, is a multi-sport star who won a judo silver medal in the same under 62 kilogram weight division at September's Asian Games in Incheon, and has also enjoyed success in wrestling.

With sambo, the martial art developed for Russia's military and police force in the 1930s, combining elements of both wrestling and judo, her success is unsurprising, as is the fact that she successfully transitioned her skills to a new competitive environment.

"It has been a hard struggle to wrestle on the beach because this is my first time to compete on sand," admitted Bahamuratova.

"It gives me great joy to win the first gold medal of the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, and even more so because it is the first gold medal for my team and for Turkmenistan."

Elsewhere, it was a day of Mongolian success on the sand, with Tumurkuleng Davaador and Tuvshinzhargal Gan triumphing in the men's under 68kg and under 82kg divisions.

Tumen-Up Baaturgs and Sainbuyan Bataille did likewise in the women's under 64 and under 77kg categories, after overcoming the twin challenges of the heat and unstable underfoot conditions. 

South Korean Choi Cherone took the other sambo title in the men's heavyweight under 100kg event, while athletes from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Nepal, Thailand and Uzbekistan all won minor medals.

Tuvshinzhargal Gang en route to one of four sambo gold medals for Mongolia ©FIASTuvshinzhargal Gang en route to one of four sambo gold medals for Mongolia ©FIAS



Although the Games do not officially open until Friday (November 14), today marked the first day of sporting action, with six sets of medals also won in ju jitsu, while competition also began in flag football and squash.

In a Chef de Mission's meeting today, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) also announced that two athletics events, the women's 4x60 metres relay and the high jump, have been dropped from the programme because of a lack of interest.

In the relay event, only Thailand and Kazakhstan had entered, while in the high jump only athletes from the host nation planned to compete.

This means a total of 166 gold medals will now be awarded in 26 sports before the event, which follows earlier Asian Beach Games in Muscat, Haiyang and Bali, ends with a Closing Ceremony on November 23.