ASTANA – Pavlodar will host the first selection round of participants for the baige (horse race) competition on Aug. 3 as part of the upcoming fifth World Nomad Games, reported the National Sports Association’s press service.
Photo credit: National Sports Association. Click to see the map in full size. The map is designed by The Astana Times.
The competition will feature four disciplines: kunan baige (around ten-kilometer race on two- to three-year-old foals), top baige (above 15-kilometer race), alaman baige (above 20-kilometer race), and zhorga zharys (short-distance race with a special horse movement), with a total prize fund of 24.9 million tenge (US$52,453).
Zhomart Saibolatov, Vice-President of the Baige Federation, announced that another selection round will take place in Almaty on Aug. 11. He also mentioned that participants from around ten countries, including Mongolia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Russia, are expected to compete in the baige at the games.
