Articles by Anuar Abdrakhmanov

Kazakh national team loses to Croatia in Davis Cup quarterfinals

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national team recently lost to Croatia in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup and finished its participation in the tournament. Croatia was favoured having won the Davis Cup World Group in 2005 and having reached the finals in 2016. Kazakhstan’s best finish had been the quarterfinals. The first two players on the…

Astana Arlans defeat China Dragons in WSB

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Astana Arlans took a confident win over the China Dragons in the away match of the World Series of Boxing (WSB). The match in Guiyang started well for the Kazakh club. Due to the absence of the Chinese boxer in the weight category of up to 91 kg, the victory was automatically…

Kazakhstan’s Zhumagulov defeats American opponent in international MMA tournament in Almaty

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Zhalgas Zhumagulov defeated Tyson Nam of the US in the main event of the mixed martial arts tournament MMA Fight Nights Global 86 in Almaty. From the first seconds of the fight, Zhumagulov made it clear who was the leader and interrupted his opponent in his own elements, landing a series of…

Golovkin-Canelo rematch called off, Golovkin seeks different opponent for May 5 bout

ASTANA – The bout between Kazakhstan’s Gennady Golovkin, the WBC, WBA (Super), IBF and IBO belts holder, and Mexican Saul Alvarez, has been officially called off. The rematch, which was scheduled for May 5, was cancelled by the Mexican boxer. This was announced at a special press conference by President of Golden Boy Promotions Eric…

Team Kazakhstan defeats Hungary in friendly match

ASTANA – The Kazakh national football team recently beat Hungary 3-2 in a friendly match in Budapest on March 24. The outcome was upset as the Hungarian team, a participant of the 2016 European championship in France, was expected to win. The match was the first for the new head coach of the Kazakhstan’s national…

Kazakh boxers win four gold medals at international tournament in Warsaw

ASTANA – Kazakh boxers recorded impressive results at the recent 25th Feliks Stamm International Tournament in Poland. Ilyas Suleimenov won the gold medal in the up to 56 kg category, defeating Mohammad Alvadi of Jordan. Bekdaulet Ibragimov (64 kg) knocked out Damian Durkacz, the host country’s only representative in the finals, and Aslanbek Shymbergenov (69…

Skier wins Kazakhstan’s first gold medal at Paralympic Games

The Kazakh National Paralympic team recently won its first gold medal in the history of the Paralympic games with Alexander Kolyadin’s winning gold in the men’s 1.5km sprint classic. Kolyadin’s time was four minutes, 19.7 seconds. Second place went to Yoshihiro Nitta of Japan , followed by Mark Arendz of Canada and Iikka Tuomisto from Finland.…

Bulgarian Stoilov appointed as head coach of Kazakhstan’s national football team

ASTANA – Stanimir Stoilov has been appointed as the new head coach of Kazakhstan’s national football team. The Bulgarian specialist, who made impressive achievements with FC Astana by taking the team to the main part of the European tournaments three times, signed a two-year contract. “I came to help Kazakhstan’s football. I have lived in…

Kazakh boxer Daniyar Yeleussinov goes pro

ASTANA – Kazakh boxer and Olympic champion Daniyar Yeleussinov recently announced that he is turning professional and is expected to sign a contract with the British promoter Eddie Hearn. Yeleussinov won the Olympic champion title in the up to 69 kg weight category in Rio in 2016. After that, the 2013 world amateur champion and…

Kazakh skier’s bronze medal more than 20 years in the making

PYEONGCHANG – Kazakh Winter Olympic Team Head Coach Yelena Kruglykhina said recently that Kazakh skier Julia Galysheva’s Olympic bronze medal in PyeongChang in the moguls was more than 20 years in the making. “This is the result of many years of work. Not everyone can win an Olympic medal, and you need to be born…

Astana FC makes incredible comeback in Europa League match against Portugal’s Sporting

The return match of Europa League’s 1/16 round between Kazakhstan’s Astana FC and Portugal’s Sporting ended in a 3-3 draw in Lisbon on Feb. 22. The fate of the two matches was predetermined in the first game in Astana, when the Portuguese took a confident 3-1 win, so very few expected a satisfactory result from…

Kazakhstan’s 2014 figure skating medal winner Denis Ten comes up short in PyeongChang

PYEONGCHANG – Kazakhstan’s Sochi Olympics bronze medal winner Denis Ten found himself in 27th place here overall after his figure skating performance at the PyeongChang Games, failing to reach the finals after the short programme and earning 70.12 points. According to the skater himself, the injuries that plagued him throughout the season also affected his…

Kazakh champion FC Astana loses to Portugal’s Sporting in UEFA Europa League

ASTANA – FC Astana lost 1-3 to Portugal’s Sporting in the Europa League’s round of 16 competition. The match was of historical importance for Kazakhstan: no Kazakh football club had ever reached the European Cup playoffs. FC Astana, Kazakhstan’s domestic champion, took second place in Group A, losing only to Villarreal. Sporting went through to…

Kazakhstan loses heartbreaker to Spain in European Futsal Championship semifinals

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national futsal team reached the European Championship semifinals in Slovenia carrying high expectations, given their 2016 European Championship bronze medal, but fell to Spain after a close-fought Feb. 8 match that only ended in a penalty shootout. Team Kazakhstan started the tournament with a confident 5-1 win over Poland, followed by a…

Kazakh short-track skater carries flag at Olympics opening ceremony

PYEONGCHANG – The 2018 Winter Olympic Games kicked off in PyeongChang, South Korea, with the Feb. 9 opening ceremony. The Kazakh flag was carried by short-tracker Abzal Azhgaliyev. “It is a great honour for me to be the standard bearer of Kazakhstan’s national team at the Olympics’ opening ceremony. To be honest I’m a bit…

Freestyle skier wins bronze, Kazakhstan’s first medal at Pyeongchang

PYEONGCHANG – Kazakhstan freestyle skier Yulia Galysheva won Kazakhstan’s first medal at the 2018 Olympics, taking bronze in the individual moguls. The Kazakh athlete was considered one of the main contenders for the medal, as she took leading positions at the World Cup stages several times. Galysheva steadily made her way to the main final,…

GGG, Canelo rematch scheduled for May 5

WBC, WBA (Super), IBF and IBO middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Saul “Canelo”Alvarez have signed a contract for another fight, according to anofficial announcement by the boxers, their representatives and promoters. The rematch is scheduled for May 5, although the location of the match is not yet determined. The day was chosen for a…

Astana FC beats Russian champion Spartak Moscow in a friendly match, readies for Sporting

ASTANA – The Astana football team is preparing for the new season and the UEFA Europa League play-offs against Portugal’s Sporting. The team is at training camps in the United Arab Emirates, where they recently had a friendly match against the champion of Russia, Spartak Moscow. Spartak was the favourite due to the team’s history,…

Kazakh National Olympic Committee President wishes athletes good luck

ASTANA – The PyeongChang Olympics will start in just a little more than two weeks. To date, Kazakhstan will be represented by athletes who have won 49 Olympic licenses and the final list of qualifiers will be known in the next few days. A send-off ceremony for the national team, held recently in Almaty, included…

Alexey Poltoranin wins Cross-Country World Cup stage

ASTANA – Alexey Poltoranin, the leader of Kazakhstan’s National Skiing Team, won the 15-km classic competition at the FIS Cross-Country World Cup stage in Planica, Slovenia, on Jan. 21. “We had a very good race today. The course was great for me. I would like to thank my service team for very good skis,” he…

Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan wins gold at Freestyle Ski World Cup in China

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva won a gold medal in moguls at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Freestyle Ski World Cup stage  in Thaiwoo, part of China’s northeastern Hebei province, on Dec. 22. The future facility for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games 2022 turned out to be successful for the Kazakhs. On the second day…

Major international table tennis tournament held in Astana

ASTANA –  The final matches of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals took place in the Kazakh capital Dec. 14-17. Ping-pong lovers watched the world’s strongest players compete at the Daulet Sport Complex. Kirill Gerassimenko, 21, represented Kazakhstan at the Grand Finals. At the 1/8 finals draw, he played against a…

Astana cycling team presents line-up for new season

ASTANA – The Astana professional cycling team members and managers presented its new line-up Dec. 8 in the capital. The team is part of the Astana Presidential Sports Club, which includes rosters competing in cycling, football, ice hockey, basketball, boxing and motorsports, and is backed by the country’s Samruk Kazyna sovereign wealth fund. The ceremony…

Win in Prague secures FC Astana’s historic progress to Europa League playoffs

ASTANA – FC Astana secured a 1-0 win away against SK Slavia Prague in the sixth round of the UEFA Europa League’s group stage Dec. 8, becoming the first Kazakh club to ever make it to the European Cup playoffs. Slavia was one point ahead before the match, so Astana needed a victory to progress…

FC Astana loses 2-3 to Villareal at home, must win in Prague to progress in Europa League

ASTANA – FC Astana lost 2-3 to Villarreal CF Nov. 24 in the UEFA Europa League group stage match here. It was the first home defeat in the last 17 European cup matches for the reigning Kazakh champions. Should the team win in Prague next month and Maccabi Tel Aviv prevail over Slavia Prague, Astana…