Articles by Anuar Abdrakhmanov

AFC Kairat readies for UEFA Cup’s Final Four in Almaty

ASTANA – The UEFA Futsal Cup’s Final Four will be held April 28-30 in Almaty. The teams that will compete for the cup include Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Movistar Inter (Spain), Gazprom-Yugra (Russia) and AFC Kairat (Kazakhstan). Kairat will first play Movistar Inter in the semifinal while the Russian and Portuguese clubs will face each other…

Kazakh freestyle skier wins silver at World Championships

ASTANA – Yulia Galysheva gave Kazakh sport lovers another reason for joy by winning a silver medal in the women’s dual moguls competitions at the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, being held March 7-19 in Sierra Nevada, Spain between March 7 and 19. The gold medal went to Perrine Laffont of France…

Astana Arlans secure third straight win of World Series of Boxing season

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans boxing club, part of the Astana Presidential Professional Sports Club, beat the China Dragons 5-0 in a March 4 World Series of Boxing (WSB)  contest in Atyrau. Temirtas Zhussupov gained the first point by beating 23-year-old Chinese boxer He Junjun. The Kazakh fighter was faster and more precise than his…

Kazakh football season starts as Kairat beats Astana to claim Super Cup

ASTANA – The new football season kicked off in Kazakhstan March 4 at Almaty’s Central Stadium. The country’s two top teams of the last few seasons, Astana and Kairat, contested the Super Cup for the third year in a row. Some changes occurred in the teams’ line-ups during the off-season. Astana loaned Colombian Roger Cañas…

Kazakhstan finishes fourth in Asian Winter Games

SAPPORO – Kazakh athletes took fourth place in the team standings at the Asian Winter Games (also known as Asiad), held Feb. 19-26 in Japan. In total, Team Kazakhstan won 32 medals – nine gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze. First place went to team Japan, second to South Korea and third to China. Competitions…

Kazakh athletes placed fourth following three days at Asian Winter Games in Japan

SAPPORO – The VIII Asian Winter Games are taking place in Sapporo, Japan between Feb. 19 and 26. This Asiad, as the games are also known, is the first since the 2011 Games held in Almaty and Astana, where Team Kazakhstan won a record number of medals, beating the traditional leaders of the Asian winter…

Astana Arlans beat Russian Patriots, Uzbek Tigers in WSB kickoff

ASTANA – The Astana Arlans, the two-time World Series Boxing (WSB) winner, has started the franchise’s new season with two impressive victories – 3-2 over the Russian Patriots in Moscow and 4-1 at home in Taldyqorghan over the Uzbek Tigers. In the match, Temirtas Zhussupov (up to 49 kg) lost to his Russian opponent Bator…

Kazakh Boxer Zhanat Zhakiyanov wins WBA (Super), IBO world champion titles

ASTANA – Kazakh professional boxer Zhanat Zhakiyanov recently claimed the World Boxing Association (WBO) title of Undisputed Champion and the International Boxing Organization (IBO) title of world champion in bantamweight by defeating American Rau’shee Warren in Toledo, Ohio (USA). The fight’s favourite ahead of the bout was  Warren who held the two titles contested on…

Astana Arlans start new season with win over Russian Patriot boxing team

ASTANA – The two-time winner of the World Series Boxing (WSB) has started the new season with a swing. The Astana Arlans recorded a 3-2 win over the Russian Patriot boxing team Feb. 4 in Moscow. Temirtas Zhussupov (up to 49 kg) lost to his Russian opponent Bator Sagaluyev in the opening bout. Next, 2014…

Kazakhstan Wins Record Number of Medals at Almaty Universiade, Ranks Second in Team Standings

ASTANA – The Almaty 2017 Winter Universiade, running between Jan. 29 and Feb. 8, has been the most successful for Team Kazakhstan in the history of its participation in the world student games. One day short of the finish, Kazakh students have won 34 medals, including 11 gold, 7 silver and 16 bronze and have…

Biathlete, Freestyler Duo Win Kazakhstan’s First Winter Universiade Gold Medals

ASTANA – The Almaty Winter Universiade’s second day on Jan. 31 was remarkable for the host nation Kazakhstan’s two inaugural gold medals. First, biathlete Alina Raikova came in first in the individual 15-kilometre race. She covered the distance in 59 minutes and 48.7 seconds. Another representative of Kazakhstan, Galina Vishnevskaya, came in second. Bronze medal…

Astana Presidential Sports Club Opens Basketball Academy at Nazarbayev University

ASTANA – The long-awaited Astana Presidential Professional Sports Club Basketball Academy opened in mid-January to develop the sport in Kazakhstan. “We hope that after a certain period of time, the children who will be trained at our academy will be able to join our basketball club’s main team. People often ask why there are so…

Kazakh Boxer and Rio Olympic Gold Medallist Yeleussinov Turns Pro

ASTANA – 2016 Rio Olympic boxing champion Daniyar Yeleussinov recently turned professional after signing a contract with the recently established promotional company MJA Entertainment’s. Two-time bronze Olympic winner Ivan Dychko is also reported to be considering turning pro. “Daniyar Yeleussinov and Ivan Dychko personally called and asked for time off saying they were planning to…

Kazakh Skier Wins Gold at Lake Placid World Cup Ahead of Winter Universiade

ASTANA – Kazakh freestyle skier Dmitry Reiherd recently won a gold medal in moguls at the World Cup event in Lake Placid (USA). Reiherd had 82.20 points, Frenchman Benjamin Cave won silver with 80.73 points and third place went to Bradley Wilson of the U.S. with 78.08 points. This is not the first win in…

Kazakh Short Track Speed Skaters Ready for Winter Universiade

ASTANA – Short track speed skating is gaining momentum in Kazakhstan. The beginning of a new winter season 2016-2017 was marked for the sports world by Kazakh short track racers winning medals of various colours in World Cup stages. Team Kazakhstan became one of the few rivalling the sport’s trendsetters, including South Korea, the U.S.,…

Astana Pro Team Presents Roster for 2017

ASTANA – The Astana Pro Team’s new roster was presented last month in the capital. This time, the format changed slightly and along with a traditional press conference and presentation ceremony featured the riders’ visit to an orphanage and a meeting with cadets at a specialised sports school. Astana Pro Team’s General Manager, London Olympics…

FC Astana Eliminated from UEFA Europa League Group

ASTANA – FC Astana suffered a heavy defeat in Bern Dec. 8 against BSC Young Boys. The game in the Swiss capital was the last match of the Kazakh club’s debut season in the UEFA Europa League. Winning would not have helped either team progress from Group B. Astana’s coaching staff and players told the…

Kairat Wins UEFA Futsal Cup’s Elite Round

ASTANA – Kairat won every match it played in the end of November in Group A of the UEFA Futsal Elite Round and has secured a place in the four-team finals next April. From November 24–27, Almaty hosted Group A matches.  In the first match, two-time tournament winner Kairat narrowly beat Italy’s Real Rieti, 3:2.…

FC Astana Records First Historic Win in European Cup Group Stage

ASTANA – In a dramatic comeback November 24, FC Astana secured a 2:1 win over APOEL from Cyprus. This was the team’s first-ever win in two seasons playing in European Cup group stages. Up to now, Kazakhstan’s first and so far only representative on this stage had managed six draws in 10 matches in the…

FC Astana Wins Kazakhstan Cup 2016

ASTANA – The Kazakh capital club defeated Kairat Almaty 1:0 Nov. 20 in Almaty in the final match of the Kazakhstan Cup 2016. Many had expected Almaty to win in revenge for giving way to FC Astana in the race for the national championship title. A heavy snowfall was a big challenge to the footballers.…

Roman Krech Wins Speed Skating World Cup Stage in China

ASTANA – Kazakh racer Roman Krech won a 500-metre stage race at the Nov. 11-13 International Skating Union’s (ISU) Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Harbin, China. Krech covered 500 metres in 35.07 seconds, 0.03 seconds ahead of the reigning world champion, Russia’s Pavel Kulizhinikov, who is a World Cup winner and a world record holder…

Kazakhs Crushed 1:4 by Danes in FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualification’s Match

ASTANA – Ahead of the Nov.  11 match in Copenhagen, the Kazakh national team’s managers knew they couldn’t count on help from a number of their key players. Tanat Nuserbayev, Azat Nurgaliev, Tagybergen Askhat, and Abzal Beisebekov were unavailable due to injuries while Islambek Kuat was suspended through two yellow cards accumulated in previous games. In addition,…

Astana Pro Team’s Lutsenko Wins Tour of Hainan

ASTANA – Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko from the Astana Pro Team won the cycling race Tour of Hainan, which was held in the namesake province of China Oct. 22-30. Lutsenko took the lead in the overall standings after the sixth stage and was able to hold it through the ninth and final stage. Second in…

Kazakhstan’s Premier League Finishes with New Title for FC Astana

ASTANA – Oct. 29 saw the finish of the 25th season of the Kazakhstan Football championship’s Premier League. For the third time in a row, FC Astana, a participant of the UEFA Champions League last season and the Europa League this year, won the tournament. On Oct. 26, FC Astana tied 0:0 with Okzhetpes Kokshetau…

FC Astana Ties 1:1 at Home with Olympiacos in Europa League

ASTANA – Ahead of a Nov. 3 match, FC Astana faced a number of challenges with its line-up. Injured were such players from the main squad as Askhat Tagybergen, Agim Ibraimi, Marin Anicic and Tanat Nusserbayev. The Colombian midfielder Roger Cañas was suspended as he was sent off in the previous Europa League game in…