Articles by Anuar Abdrakhmanov

PARIS – Captain of Astana Pro cycling team Fabio Aru finished the world-famous Tour de France race in fifth place overall. Aru’s finish follows a particularly challenging Tour for the Astana team. The race began well with Aru winning the direct stage and capturing the yellow jersey early. However, difficulties quickly mounted for the Astana…

ASTANA – FC Astana, Kazakhstan’s Premier League title holders, overcame resistance in two matches with FK Spartaks Jurmala to reach the next qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Few expected the Latvian club could eliminate the Kazakh champions. Through decent performances in the last two seasons, FC Astana has earned some reputation in European…

ASTANA – Italian cyclist and Astana Pro Team member Fabio Aru and Danish teammate Jakob Fuglsang recently climbed to second and fifth respectively in the overall standings following the ninth stage of the Tour de France. The 23-stage, 3,540-km race is winding its way from Düsseldorf through Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to the French capital…

ASTANA – Two of the three Kazakh football clubs that began their campaigns in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds in late June and early July have made it over the first hurdles. Kairat Almaty and Irtysh Pavlodar are on to the second round, while Ordabasy Shymkent was knocked out of the competition by a…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s football clubs are set to start qualification rounds in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League in July. The four teams representing the nation last week learned who their opponents at the initial stages of the European Cups would be. Three-time winners of Kazakhstan’s Premier League FC Astana will start…

ASTANA – Kostas Flevarakis has been hired as the new coach of BC Astana, Kazakhstan’s premier basketball team. He will replace Greek compatriot Ilias Papatheodorou, who guided the team to the national championship and VTB United League playoffs in the 2016-2017 season. The Kazakh club delivered a decent overall performance during the season and dropped…

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans and Cuba Domadores, the two most decorated teams in the series, will contest July 15 for the World Series of Boxing (WSB) champion’s title. The final match of the seventh season will be hosted in Kazakhstan Arena, on Astana’s Right Bank, during EXPO 2017 and welcome fans from throughout the…

ASTANA – The Kazakh national boxing team won the June 5-10 Fifth International Boxing Tournament for the President’s Cup of Kazakhstan in Astana. The event included teams from 10 countries, consisting of 31 women and 82 men. In the women’s 51kg category, first place went to the two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay. Olympic medallist Dariga…

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans boxing team claimed a solid 7-3 victory over the British Lionhearts in the semifinals of the World Series of Boxing (WSB). As the British team prevented the Kazakh boxers from reaching the finals last season, the Arlans were determined to take revenge against their opponents. The first leg was held…

ALMATY – Kazakhstan’s national football team lost to Denmark 3-1 in the qualifying match for the FIFA World Cup 2018. The match took place in Almaty, where the host team had not played for more than a year, so the game aroused great interest in the southern capital. Even before the beginning of the match,…

ASTANA – Rally Kazakhstan 2017, which was also the fifth stage of the Cross-Country World Cup organised by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), was held in Aktau May 20-26 with the support of the Kazakhstan Federation of Automobile Sports. The FIA Cross-Country World Cup is a multi-stage racing series held annually in different countries including…

ASTANA – The 2004 Olympic champion Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov of Russia, the boxer who defeated Gennady Golovkin (GGG) in the finals of the Athens Olympics, believes GGG can beat Mexican Saul Alvarez, Gaidarbekov recently told The Astana Times. As previously reported, the fight between the world’s two strongest middleweights will be Sept. 16. This bout is…

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans boxing club of Kazakhstan recently defeated the Russian Patriot Boxing Team after two matches and reached the World Series of Boxing (WSB) semi-finals. A week earlier, the Arlans took a 3-2 win in Kemerovo. The return quarterfinal match took place in Karaganda and again ended with the Kazakh victory. The…

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans boxing team defeated Russia’s Patriot Boxing Team in the first match of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) quarterfinals. The match took place in Kemerovo, Russia, and ended with a 3-2 score for team Kazakhstan. The match started poorly for the Arlans (“Wolves” in Kazakh). In the lightest weight category,…

ASTANA –Kazakh national boxing team member Vasily Levit recently won individual gold at the Asian Boxing Championships in Tashkent, becoming Kazakhstan’s first three-time winner of the event. “It was not easy. This is the Asian Championship, a high-level competition, and it took a lot of effort to win. Thank God it worked out well. Now…

ASTANA – The Kairat futsal club placed third in the 2016-2017 UEFA Cup’s Final Four, the third time the Almaty club has won bronze medals in the tournament. The club previously claimed European futsal’s most prestigious trophy twice, in away finals in 2013 and 2015. The decisive UEFA Cup matches were held in Almaty this…

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans team of Kazakhstan earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over the China Dragons in the final match of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) group stage. The match, contested in China, started poorly for the Arlans. Anvar Muzaparov of the 52 kg category lost to Chinese boxer Guo Zhang. Then Zakir…

ASTANA – An international charity marathon took place April 23 in Almaty. During the last several years, the event has become a landmark not only of Almaty, but of Kazakhstan as well. This large Central Asian sporting event, eagerly awaited by thousands, has become an annual holiday promoting an active lifestyle, health and charity. More…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national futsal team made it through the April 8 and 11 qualifying round of the European Championship in Almaty. Team Kazakhstan competed in the Almaty Arena Stadium against teams from Denmark, Czechia and Macedonia to secure a berth in the championship of the continent branded UEFA Euro Futsal. Team Kazakhstan, the previous…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s hockey team is getting ready for the division one World Championship Division One tournament, which will be held in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, April 22-28. The team of coach Eduard Zankovets will compete against teams from Austria, Poland, South Korea, Hungary and Ukraine. The best two teams will go through to…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s team reached the Davis Cup World Group playoffs defeating team China 4-1 in the Asia/Oceania zone on April 7-9. Kazakhstan was favoured going into the match as China has never played in the World Group. The Chinese team got the chance to play against Kazakhstan thanks to a 5-0 win over Taipei.…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Astana Arlans boxing club was defeated for the first time in the World Series of Boxing’s (WSB) new season. The Arlans lost 4-1 to the Uzbek Tigers in the April 1 away match. Dilmurat Mazhitov was unable to beat Elnur Abduraimov (64 kg), Ilyas Suleimenov was defeated by Abdulhay Sharahmatov (56 kg)…

ASTANA – Armenia beat Kazakhstan 2:0 in Yerevan on March 26 in a qualification match for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Armenia was favoured to win, particularly since they were led by Manchester United’s outstanding midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Going into the match, Kazakhstan had few losses but was hampered by an injury to experienced defender…

ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national team lost 1-3 to Cyprus in a friendly match on March 22 in Larnaca, Cyprus. Though a loss, the match held interest for Kazakh fans for two main reasons. First, it was the inaugural match of the national team’s new head coach, Alexander Borodyuk of Russia. Second, it was the last…

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans recently secured a World Series of Boxing playoff position by beating Russia’s Patriot boxing team 4-1 at home. It was the undefeated Arlans fourth win of the new boxing season. The Patriot team entered the contest struggling, having lost two out of its three matches this season, and needed a win to…