AITI-NAGOYA, September 22. /Dunyo IA/.  Representatives of Uzbekistan secured three medals, including the national delegation's first gold of the competition, during the opening days of the 20^th Asian Games in the Japanese cities of Aichi and Nagoya, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

Gold medal was added to Uzbekistan's tally by karateka Abdulvakhob Rashidov, competing in the under 67 kg weight category.

On his path to the final, the athlete defeated opponents from Hong Kong, Palestine and Jordan. In the decisive bout, Rashidov emerged victorious over Japan's Yugo Kozaki to become the Asian Games champion.

With these results, Uzbekistan currently holds one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal, placing the delegation ninth in the medal standings. China leads the tally, followed by Japan and South Korea.

At the previous Asian Games held in Hangzhou in 2022, the Uzbekistan national team won 71 medals - 22 gold, 18 silver and 31 bronze finishing fifth in the overall standings.

Today, representatives of Uzbekistan will compete in 14 sports, including esports, wushu, cycling, shooting, field hockey, fencing, artistic gymnastics, table tennis, karate, beach volleyball, football, MMA, handball and water polo.

In MMA, Firdavs Atamuratov and Khilola Sobirova will compete in the final bouts. In the karate competitions, Sevinch Rakhimova will take to the tatami, while Dildora Aripova, Oksana Chusovitina and Aleksandra Shevchenko will represent Uzbekistan in artistic gymnastics.

Following the artistic gymnastics qualification results, three representatives of Uzbekistan advanced to the finals. Ravshan Komiljonov and Utkirbek Juraev will compete for medals in the pommel horse event, while Rasuljon Abdurakhimov will contend in the parallel bars competition.

Uzbekistan women's national football team also performed successfully, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Asian Games. In their final Group G match, the team defeated the Hong Kong national team with a score of 2-1.

Thus, within the opening days of the competition, the Uzbekistan national team has already entered the ranks of Asian Games medalists and the country's representatives continue their pursuit of accolades across a number of sporting disciplines.