ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s national kokpar team is training horses in the Almaty Region ahead of the fifth World Nomad Games, scheduled for Sept. 8 to 13.
Photo credit: Press service of the Association of National Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
“We will prepare horses and select 40 animals to compete at the World Nomad Games. The team is currently at a good level. Teams from the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan are considered to be strong rivals,” said Akylbay Mankeyev, head coach of the national kokpar team, reported zakon.kz on July 30.
The national kokpar federation is part of Kazakhstan’s National Sports Association, which also includes the federations of baige (horse race), zhamby atu, audaryspak (horseback wrestling), sadak atu, kusbegilik, asyk atu (outdoor game knocking out a sheep joint bones), tenge ilu (picking up coins on a horse), joryq at (horse riding) and others.
“For two months, we have been actively preparing for the fifth World Nomad Games. During the first training camp the emphasis was on our physical training, now we focus on horses,” said a member of the national kokpar team Adlet Mamyt.
The Fifth World Nomad Games in Astana is expected to welcome over 100,000 people.
