A trio of bronze: Kazakh taekwondo stars reach podium at 2025 World University Games
On the fourth day of the 2025 FISU World University Games in Germany, Kazakhstan’s Nodira Akhmedova, Tamerlan Tleules and Batyrkhan Toleugali each claimed a bronze medal, adding to the national team’s overall medal tally.
The Kazakh athletes fought hard but fell in the semifinals, each losing to the eventual Universiade champions. Akhmedova (up to 49 kg) was defeated by China’s Jingyue Ma. Tleules (up to 58 kg) lost to Ukraine’s Maksym Manenkov. Toleugali (up to 80 kg) fell to Korea’s Geonwoo Seo.
Notably, all three taekwondo fighters recently earned podium finishes at the prestigious Grand Prix Challenge in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Another Kazakh taekwondo athlete, Nuray Khussainova (up to 67 kg), exited in the quarterfinals after losing to Canada’s Leonarda Andric, who went on to win bronze.
Tough draw for Kazakh athletes
The luck of the draw wasn’t on Kazakhstan’s side. Based on the July 21 results, it’s fair to say that if the Kazakh taekwondo fighters had landed in different brackets, away from the eventual champions, they might have advanced beyond bronze.
In fencing, Kazakhstan narrowly lost to Azerbaijan in the round of 16 of the team tournament. Bexultan Abzhal, Kuanysh Ergashbay and Nurmukhammed Zhailybay fell by a single point, 45-44. Azerbaijan lost to Japan in the quarterfinals, 45-32. Japan then fell to South Korea in the semifinals, 45-30. In the final, South Korea defeated Italy, 45-34.
Other results
Kazakhstan’s swimmers struggled again. Gleb Kovalenya (50-meter backstroke) and Rishat Zhumagulov (100-meter freestyle) both placed near the bottom in their preliminary heats.
In mixed doubles tennis, Yekaterina Dmitrichenko and Iliyas Maratuly lost their opening match to Kenya’s Angella Okutoyi and Kael Shah (7-5, 6-2).
On a brighter note, table tennis player Aidos Kenzhigulov defeated Hungary’s David Molnar in straight sets (11-8, 11-9, 11-4).
Medal standings and participation
After four days of competition, the U.S. leads the unofficial medal table. China has overtaken South Korea for second place. Kazakhstan, with five bronze medals, ranks 30th.
The 2025 World University Games, organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), began on July 16 in Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region. Events are being held in Duisburg, Bochum, Essen, Hagen, Mülheim and Berlin across 18 sports.
More than 8,500 athletes from 160 countries are competing. Kazakhstan is represented by 75 student-athletes across 12 sports: badminton, rowing, judo, athletics, table tennis, swimming, taekwondo, artistic gymnastics, archery, tennis, fencing and rhythmic gymnastics. The
games will conclude on July 27.
