FC Astana Suffers Heavy Away Defeat against Olympiacos in UEFA Europa League
FC Astana suffered a heavy defeat in Piraeus, Greece at the hands of Olympiacos FC – 1:4 in the capital club’s third match at UEFA Europa League’s group stage. Ahead of the match at Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis October 21, the Greek club was widely viewed as the favourites of the match. Olympiacos FC has great…
Kazakhstan Ties Romania in FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifications
ASTANA – Kazakhstan secured its second point in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers Oct. 11 in Astana after playing to a goalless draw with Romania. Three days before the match, the Kazakh players suffered a humiliating away defeat at the hands of Montenegro 0:5. They were motivated to win back the trust and support…
FC Astana Earns One Point in First Two UEFA Europa League Group Stage Matches
ASTANA – Kazakh champions FC Astana in the second match of the group stage of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Europa League at home drew with Swiss club FC Young Boys 0:0. Both Astana and Young Boys lost their first matches in the group to APOEL of Cyprus and Olympiacos of Greece respectively. Therefore,…
Kazakhstan Finishes in Top 16 at FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia
ASTANA – Kazakhstan reached the top 16 of the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Columbia before being eliminated recently in the second round by Spain. The team, led by Brazilian Head Coach Ricardo Sobral, who goes by the name of Cacau, took second place in Group E after Argentina and ahead of Costa Rica and…
Kazakhstan Loses 0:1 to Argentine in FIFA Futsal World Cup Opener in Colombia
ASTANA – Kazakhstan lost to Argentina 0:1 Sept. 12 in the first round of the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 in Colombia. The match marked the second time Kazakhstan has participated in the top flight FIFA Futsal World Cup. The first time was 16 years ago in Guatemala where it qualified from the Asian…
Swimmer Zulfiya Gabdullina Wins Kazakhstan’s Paralympic Gold Medal
ASTANA – Swimmer Zulfiya Gabdullina became the first Kazakh Paralympian to win gold Sept. 8 when she won the women’s 100 m freestyle at the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The 51-year-old finished with a new world record of 01:30:07, followed by China’s Peng Qiuping and Ukraine’s Olga Sviderska. Three days later her compatriot,…
Impressive Comeback Helps Kazakhstan Draw Poland in World Cup Qualifications Opener
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s national football team began the qualification tournament of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia with an inspiring display against the Group E favourites, Poland. The match was played on Astana Arena’s artificial pitch Sept. 4. Few pundits believed the Kazakhs had a chance to deny a win to a team that…
FC Astana to Play in UEFA Europa League’s Group Stage
ASTANA – As the result of a two-leg encounter, FC Astana passed Belarusian champions BATE Borisov in the Europa League playoff round for the first time and will play in a group stage of the tournament. In the first match on Aug. 18, the Kazakh champions managed to secure a formidable lead by claiming a…
Kazakh Olympic Team Hailed as Heroes on Return
ASTANA – A ceremony honouring the Kazakh Olympic team’s successful performance at the XXXI Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro was held Aug. 26 in the Palace of Independence. The nation’s athletes returned with 17 medals in various sports – a record in the nation’s Olympic history, ranking the team in 22nd place among the…
FC Astana Leads Play-off Round of UEFA Europa League
Kazakhstan champions FC Astana beat Belarus’ BATE Borisov 2-0 in the first match of the playoff round of the UEFA Europa League thanks to precise strikes in the second half from Junior Kabananga and Azat Nurgaliyev. Before the match in Astana, Astana’s Bulgarian manager Stanimir Stoilov was in a difficult situation due to the disqualification…
Boxer Yeleussinov Wins Kazakhstan’s Third Gold at Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO – Captain of the Kazakh national boxing team Daniyar Yeleussinov won a gold medal Aug. 17, the third for the country so far at the Rio Olympic Games. Before the Games, special hopes were placed on the 25-year-old welterweight. Kazakh boxers have dominated in the category, with victories by Bakhtiyar Artayev in…
Two Gold, One Silver for Team Kazakhstan on Rio Olympics Day Five
RIO DE JANEIRO – Kazakhstan won the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal in swimming as well as a second gold and a silver in weightlifting on day five of the Summer Olympics in Rio. In a stunning upset that shocked the swimming world, 21-year-old Kazakh Dmitry Balandin beat top-ranked Joshua Prenot of the United States…
Team Kazakhstan Begins Participation in Olympic Games in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO – On Aug. 5, a delegation of athletes and officials of Kazakhstan took part in the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games at the legendary stadium Maracana, once the world’s largest, in Rio de Janeiro. The nation’s flag was carried by taekwondo fighter Ruslan Zhaparov. A day before, Kazakhstan’s flag was…
Kazakh Judokas, Weightlifter Win Nation’s First Medals at Rio Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO – On Aug. 6, the first day of competitions at the Summer Olympics in Rio, Team Kazakhstan won its first medals, namely two of them. Both in judo. Yeldos Smetov won silver in the weight category up to 60 kg among men, while Otgontsetseg Galbadrakh claimed bronze in the weight category up…
Astana Draws Celtic at Home in UEFA Champions League
ASTANA – In the third qualifying round of the Champions League, FC Astana drew 1:1 at home against Celtic FC. This was their first match in a two-leg confrontation. This was not a Kazakh club’s first encounter with the Scottish grandee. In 2013, in the playoff round of the Champions League, FC Shakhter Karaganda sensationally…
Astana Motorsports Team Performs Well at Silk Way Rally 2016, Wins T2 Class
ASTANA – The four crews of the Astana Presidential Professional Sports Club successfully completed the Silk Way Rally 2016. The rally, which took place July 8-24 after a two-year hiatus, saw riders cover a total of more than 10,000 kilometres in 15 legs between Moscow and Beijing and through the territory of Russia, Kazakhstan and…
Zhansaya Abdumalik Wins Miguel Najdorf Chess Tournament in Warsaw
ASTANA – Sixteen-year-old Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan won the women’s tournament at the MetLife Warsaw Najdorf Chess Festival in the capital city of Poland and placed fifth among under-18 players of both genders. A total of 130 chess players, including 14 women, participated in the tournament, which was held in Warsaw from July 8 to…
Team Kazakhstan to Play Russia in Davis Cup World Group Play-offs
ASTANA – The Davis Cup World Group play-off draw took place in London. The Kazakh men’s national team learned it will play its Russian counterparts Sept. 16-18 in an away match. Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev noted earlier if the Russians were the hosts, the match would be played in Moscow. Team Russia recently…
FC Astana Meets Celtic in Next Round of UEFA Champions League Qualification
ASTANA – FC Astana, the capital’s main football team, beat its Lithuanian opponent FC Zalgiris Vilnius 2-1 at home and on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Most Kazakh fans’ hopes in the new European club season are pinned on Astana. The team’s unconvincing performance in the first away match…
Kazakh Clubs Start Campaigns in UEFA Europa League Qualifications
ASTANA – For Kazakh football clubs, the time has come again to test themselves in the qualifying rounds of the European club tournaments. Unfortunately, the beginning of the 2016-2018 season turned out quite poorly. Last week, three Kazakh clubs played the return legs of their Europa League rivalries. FK Aktobe tied at home 1-1 but…
Kazakhstan’s Olympic Team Seeks New Successes in Rio
ASTANA – More than 100 athletes will represent Kazakhstan at the Summer Olympics in Rio, and will participate in 26 of the 38 Olympic sports. At a meeting with the Olympic team July 4, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev reiterated that the country expects good results from them. “Today, Kazakhstan has strong athletic potential. The results…
Golovkin to Fight Briton Kell Brook September 10
The world middleweight champion in the WBA (Super), IBO, WBC and IBF, Kazakh boxer Gennady Golovkin have agreed to fight Kell Brook September 10 at London’s O2 arena. Golovkin and promoter Eddie Hearn announced the news in a tweet. For 34-year-old Golovkin, also known as GGG, this fight will be the 36th of his career.…
FC Astana Starts UEFA Champions League Qualification in Vilnius
ASTANA – Four Kazakh clubs have entered another qualification campaign to reach the Union of European Football Associations Champions League and the Europa League. Last week, the teams learnt their opponents following the draw in Nyon, Switzerland. In 2015, FC Astana made history by becoming the nation’s first club to reach the UEFA Champions League’s…
Kazakh Boxer Ivan Dychko Trains with Wladimir Klitschko’s Team
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s boxer, bronze medalist of the 2012 London Olympics Ivan Dychko has returned from Austria, where he spent two weeks training at the invitation of Wladimir Klitschko and his team. For Klitschko, the Ukrainian former champion, the training in Austria was part of preparations for a rematch with Briton Tyson Fury, which is…
Kazakhstan Narrowly Misses Promotion in Women’s Volleyball World Grand Prix
ASTANA – Kazakhstan just missed in its effort to move up to Group 2 of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Grand Prix, losing the crucial match to Croatia during the 2016 FIVB Grand Prix Group 3 Final Round in Almaty June 18–19. During the Group 3 Final Round, winners of the two preliminary stages –…
