One of the Kazakh wrestlers, Nurmakhan Tynaliyev (second from right) demonstrated his skills and took an honorable third place.
The Universiade is an international multisport event for university students put on by the International University Sports Federation. More than 11,700 athletes from 160 countries participated in this year’s games and were awarded a total of 350 sets of metals.
The Kazakhstan national team won 30 medals in various events and finished 19th in the medal standings.
For the first time in the history of the Universiade, the programme included 27 sports, 13 compulsory and 14 optional. Five of the sports were included in the Universiade for the first time.
The optional sports were rowing, badminton, boxing, belt wrestling, rowing and canoeing, beach volleyball, rugby-7, sambo, synchronized swimming, wrestling, sports shooting, weightlifting, hockey and chess. For the first time, belt wrestling, boxing, sambo, synchronized swimming and rugby-7 were included in the programme.
Kazakhstan athletes won three gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze medals.
Weightlifter Farkhat Harki, runner Margarita Mukasheva and the women’s rifle shooting team won goal medals.
Women’s Archery Team of Kazakhstan shone at Kazan Universiade.
Bronze medals were won by wrestlers Berdakh Primbayev, Alikhan Dzhumayev, Almat Kebispayev, Askhat Zhanbirov and Nurmakhan Tynaliyev, boxers Yerzhan Zhomart and Nurdaulet Zharmanov, fighters Ayan Ermekbayev and Gulnur Erbolova, triple jumper Evgeniy Ektov, pole-vaulter Nikita Filippov and sambo wrestlers Azhar Kenbeil and Dildash Kuryshbayev. Kazakhstan’s men’s national fencing team and female sport shooting team also won bronze medals.
The Russian team placed first in the overall standings followed by China and Japan.
Prior to Kazan, the best finish by Kazakhstan’s student and youth Universiade national team was in 2007 in Bangkok where the team won 14 medals, including five gold and placed 11th in the overall standings.
According to preliminary estimates, the Universiade cost Russia $7 billion. The next summer games will be held in 2015 in the Korean city of Gwangju. And Almaty will host the Winter Universiade in 2017.
