Wednesday, january 17, 2017 inside nation healthcare minister reports on new infrastructure development plan A2

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

NATION&CAPITAL

SPORTS

B7

Photo by Ilyas Omar

ov

Deaflympics encourages 

Almaty to apply to host 

2019 Winter games

By Meruyert Abugaliyeva

ASTANA – The Head of Inter-

national Committee of Sports for 

the Deaf Valery Rukhledev recent-

ly visited Almaty and encouraged 

Kazakhstan to submit an applica-

tion for Almaty to host the 2019 

Winter Deaflympics.

“Almaty has not submitted its 

application to host Winter Deaf-

lympics, but we would like to 

consider it as a candidate. We ob-

served the sports infrastructure and 

were impressed by the architecture 

of the buildings, state-of-the-art 

equipment and especially by the 

active sports life in those facilities. 

In addition, we witnessed national 

competitions in curling and skiing, 

children’s  training  of  figure  skat-

ers and hockey players, as well 

as mass skating and skiing. All 

of this, as well as the 28th World 

Winter Universiade held in Feb-

ruary 2017, prove that Almaty is 

deservedly one of the world winter 

sports capitals,” said Rukhledev.

Almaty is home to 44,100 peo-

ple with disabilities, including 

5,000 with hearing impairment.

Rukhledev noted that the Winter 

Deaflympics have not been held on 

the Asian continent. He also men-

tioned potential benefits of hosting 

the Games, including developing 

urban areas and improving ur-

ban environments for people with 

physical challenges, including 

the installation of elevators, side-

walks, traffic lights, special mark-

ing and visual pointers. He also 

said such events generate interest 

in sports among people with disa-

bilities, which helps them integrate 

into social life.

The Deaflympics are an interna-

tional sports competetion for ath-

letes with hearing impairment sanc-

tioned by the International Olympic 

Committee. The  Games  were  first 

held in 1924 in Paris. They were 

the  first  international  sports  event 

for people with disabilities and the 

second international sports com-

petition after the Olympics. Ever 

since 1924 the Games for the deaf 

are held every four years with the 

exception of 1943 and 1947 due 

to the World War II and the Winter 

Games were introduced in 1949. 

Although there were only 9 coun-

tries participating in the Games in 

1924,  the  Deaflympics  now  unite 

athletes from 113 nations.

Kazakh short track racer to carry flag 

during 2018 Winter Olympic opening

By Frol Leandoer

ASTANA – Kazakhstan short-

track player Abzal Azhgaliyev has 

been  named  flag  bearer  and  cap-

tain of the Kazakh team for the 

Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, 

the National Olympic Committee 

of Kazakhstan press service re-

ported Jan. 9.

“Only today I learned that I was 

chosen as the standard-bearer of 

the Kazakhstan national team at 

the Olympic Games. To say that 

I was surprised is to say nothing. 

This is a great honour for every 

athlete, and I am very glad and 

proud that I was the one who was 

trusted to carry the flag. I thank the 

National Olympic Committee of 

the country for the trust, I will try 

to justify the hopes placed on me,” 

said Azhgaliyev, who is training in 

Holland.

Azhgaliyev was born Jun. 30, 

1992 in Uralsk. He took the fifth 

place in the team relay race at 

the Olympic Games in 2014. He 

is also the first in the history of 

Kazakhstan World Cup winner 

(Salt Lake City 2016-2017), a 

two-time silver medallist of the 

World Cup 2016-2017, two-time 

bronze medallist of the World 

Cup 2016-2017 (as part of the 

team relay race), silver medal-

list of the World Winter Univer-

siade 2017 and bronze medal-

list in the team relay race of the 

Asian Winter Games in Sapporo 

in 2017.

A  special flag  bearer’s  costume 

is being designed for the athlete.

Team Astana completes Peruvian stages of Dakar Rally

Staff Report

ASTANA  –  The  final  stage  of 

the Dakar 2018 rally on the sandy 

paths of Peru ended Jan. 10. The 

route of the fifth stage of the mara-

thon brought racers to the city of 

Arequipa. For the next stage, the 

caravan of Dakar racers will travel 

to Bolivia for routes over 3,000 

meters high.

According to the press service of 

the Astana Presidential Club, for 

the cargo crews, the total length 

of the route was 934 kilometres 

and the special stage lasted 268 

kilometres. Astana’s team never 

stopped  at  the  final  stage  of  the 

Peruvian sands – the athletes spent 

16 hours in the truck.

Artur Ardavichus and his team 

managed to rise to ninth place in 

the standings by the end of the 

stage and improve their position 

to eighth place in the general clas-

sification.

“In total, I covered more than 

900 kilometres today. We left the 

bivouac at six in the morning and 

arrived at the next bivouac at 10 

in the evening. Today was a good 

day. Navigation was carried out 

without mistakes. We finished the 

stage without a single blot. Of 

course, we are really tired; the day 

was tough and fruitful,” comment-

ed Ardavichus.

Both quad riders of Astana also 

reached the finish line of the final 

stage in Peru.

In the previous stage, Maxim 

Antimirov injured his right leg, 

which put his further participa-

tion in doubt. However, despite the 

injury, the athlete started the fifth 

stage of the marathon and passed it 

at a stable pace. Antimirov arrived 

at the finish in the city of Arequipa 

15th, having risen in the general 

classification  to  27th  place.  He 

was on painkillers during the fifth 

stage of the Dakar. Now he is suf-

fering  and  facing  difficulties  in 

moving independently. Consider-

ing that with each stage it will be 

more difficult to finish while suf-

fering pain and general physical 

weakness, the current condition of 

the athlete puts his further partici-

pation in Dakar in doubt.

Last year’s ATV champion of 

Dakar, Russian racer Sergey Kar-

yakin, left the race due to a fall in 

the special stage of the fifth stage. 

The pilot was airlifted to a hospi-

tal, where he was successfully op-

erated on.

“We don’t spot a hole like that 

on the track once – and a blow-

out. We caught such holes while 

driving the car. Nothing good, but 

for a four-wheel motorcycle rider 

it is, of course, a great injury. It’s 

good that he’s alive! Sergey was 

supposed to be the winner, and 

our guys had to finish. Now there 

are  only  guys  who  must  finish,” 

the Astana captain commented on 

Karyakin’s disaster.

Another Astana ATV rider, 

Dmitry Shilov, was 14th in the 

fifth  stage.  The  athlete  holds  the 

same position in the general classi-

fication. He noted that the situation 

with Karyakin made him resist the 

urge to drive too fast.

“It was a difficult day, first I de-

cided to slow down the pace my-

self, but then I saw the helicopter 

and Sergey being evacuated and 

decided to drop the tempo. Later 

there was a mistake, I had to go 

back to seven kilometres and take 

a position again. One of the rivals 

asked for a spare but I refused him, 

because I still had 120 kilometres 

to finish. Tomorrow we leave, and 

we’ll see what will happen at high 

altitude. Tomorrow we leave Peru 

and start to go up to Bolivia,” he 

said.

Skier Dmitry 

Reiherd wins silver 

at World Cup

Staff Report

Kazakh freestyle skier Dmitry 

Reiherd took the silver in moguls 

at the World Cup stage in Deer Val-

ley, Utah (USA). He scored 83.66 

points, second only to Canadian 

Mikael Kingsbury (88.80), whose 

victory was his 13th in a row at 

the World Cup stages. Australian 

Matt Graham (82.37) closed the 

top three.

The showing is Reiherd’s fourth 

silver medal in the current season. 

He previously placed second at the 

World Cups in Finland, China and 

Canada.

Reiherd won the World Cup 

stage in Lake Placid, New York 

(USA) in 2017, one of several 

prizes he captured last year. He 

also won individual and parallel 

moguls at the Universiade in Ka-

zakhstan and took fifth place in the 

last World Championship in Sochi 

(Russia).He  is  ranked  fifth  in  the 

overall standings.

Reiherd is one of the top possi-

bilities for a medal in next month’s 

Olympics, the fourth of his career.

“Kazakhstan’s freestyle at the 

Olympics in PyeongChang will 

be represented in two disciplines, 

moguls and acrobatics. So far, four 

athletes, including Yulia Galyshe-

va, Ayaulym Amrenova, Dmitry 

Reiherd and Pavel Kolmakov, 

have qualified for the Olympics in 

moguls. In acrobatics, we will have 

five  athletes,  but  the  final  line-up 

for the Olympic Games will be 

known on Jan. 21. Our leading ath-

letes in both moguls and acrobat-

ics will compete for the medals of 

the Olympics. I don’t want to think 

ahead; time will show, but I think 

we should believe in our athletes,” 

said Kazakh Freestyle Federation 

Vice President and national team 

coach Elena Kruglykhina.

Athletes in moguls will start 

competing at the Olympics earlier 

than representatives of other free-

style disciplines. The first qualifi-

cation will take place Feb. 9, the 

Games’ opening day. The women’s 

final race will be held Feb. 11, fol-

lowed by the men’s event the next 

day.

Playing chess results in better brain function

By Dana Omirgazy

ASTANA – Chess is the best 

sport to exercise the most complex 

and important organ in the body 

– the brain. In Kazakhstan, it be-

came the beloved intellectual game 

among children and adolescents. 

In an exclusive interview with The 

Astana Times, Kazakhstan Chess 

Federation (KCF) Executive Direc-

tor Irina Grishchenko talked about 

2017’s key activities, ongoing pro-

jects and recent chess victories.

“This was a very interesting 

year.  We  fulfilled  all  our  plans. 

The federation organised and car-

ried out 22 national tournaments. 

We held children’s cups and adult 

chess cups among men and wom-

en and invited grandmasters from 

several countries. This means 

that people were able to fulfil the 

standards of FIDE (Fédération In-

ternationale des Échecs or World 

Chess Federation) Master, Inter-

national Master and Grandmas-

ter norms without going abroad. 

Previously, according to FIDE 

rules, it was necessary to play 

only abroad in order to get these 

norms,” she said.

Kazakhstan hosted four interna-

tional tournaments, including the 

Astana Open International Chess 

Festival during EXPO 2017.

“It was a major event of the past 

year. We managed to attract ap-

proximately 600 people in differ-

ent age categories and levels to this 

tournament. We were glad to wel-

come participants from 18 coun-

tries,” she said.

The national chess team partici-

pated last year in all official FIDE 

tournaments, with more than 3,500 

players involved in national and 

international competitions. Kazakh 

players earned nine gold, four silver 

and seven bronze medals.

In the past few years, the federa-

tion has been witnessing an increase 

in the number of both children and 

adults playing chess. Compared to 

2015,  the  figure  has  increased  by 

two and a half times. According to 

Grishchenko, this year the federa-

tion intends to increase the number 

of tournaments.

“We plan to hold 24 tournaments. 

For  the  first  time,  we  will  assist  in 

organising chess tournaments among 

people with limited abilities. We will 

start cooperation this year,” she noted.

Beginning in September, the 

Chess in School pilot project was 

introduced in 19 schools in Almaty, 

Kyzylorda, Pavlodar and Pavlodar 

region involving approximately 

1,500 students. The KCF and 

Shakhmardan  Yessenov  Scientific 

and Educational Foundation initi-

ated the project and provided all the 

necessary equipment.

“We provided schools with meth-

odological guidebooks, textbooks 

and workbooks. In the summer, we 

trained teachers and psychologists 

under the project. Psychologists 

conduct research and draw con-

clusions about the effects of chess 

training. They observe improve-

ments in students’ logical and stra-

tegic thinking, memory and con-

centration,” she said.

The East Kazakhstan region is 

expected to join the pilot project 

next year by introducing chess les-

sons in the school curriculum.

“We want all Kazakh people to 

play chess. Chess improves cogni-

tive abilities and problem-solving 

capacity. It has a positive effect on 

the development of intellectual po-

tential. This is a good opportunity 

for children to learn how to think 

multi-channel. I am sure that chess 

is the only way to teach children to 

be adapted in our world. Our Presi-

dent was right when he once said 

that every leader should know how 

to play chess,” she said.

Kazakh chess champions Di-

nara Saduakassova and Zhansaya 

Abdumalik are well-known for 

their victories. Based on their lat-

est achievements, Grishchenko 

also named Kazybek Nogirbek, 

Ansat Aldiyar, as well as Meruert 

Kamalidenova and Assel Serikbai, 

who became Asian champions in 

their age categories.

“I have an optimistic view of Ka-

zakhstan’s chess development. I am 

sure that chess lessons will be intro-

duced in all schools of the country. 

Our children and young people will 

become more concentrated, more 

competitive and intellectually de-

veloped,” she noted.

Olympian Alzhan Zharmukhamedov 

attends ‘Going Vertical’ premiere in Astana

By Ilyas Omarov

ASTANA – The Olympic cham-

pion of 1972 in basketball in Mu-

nich Alzhan Zharmukhamedov 

recently visited Astana. In the 

Kazakh capital, he took part in 

the  premiere  of  the  Russian  film 

“Going Vertical,” which tells of 

the historic victory of the USSR 

basketball team over the U.S. 

team in the 1972 Olympic finals. 

Zharmukhamedov is the hero of 

the film – the athlete played in the 

Soviet national team at this leg-

endary game in Munich.

The famous basketball player 

said that during the historic Olym-

pic finals in Munich he was on the 

court almost the entire game: “I 

had to play the most of the players. 

I played 36 minutes out of 40. I 

rested only two minutes in the first 

half and in the second half. Eve-

rything was this way – not to let 

the other team score, and to help 

my team. I was wrapped up in the 

game,” he recalled.

“After the premiere of the ‘Going 

Vertical’ on Dec. 21, I received many 

invitations. I was also invited to 

Astana. Of course, it’s very pleasant 

that in Kazakhstan there is such in-

terest in the film and my person. The 

whole huge hall walked by me shak-

ing hands and taking pictures. I was 

even a little shocked by such great 

interest,” said Zharmukhamedov.

“I always come to Kazakhstan 

with pleasure. Still, this is the 

motherland of my ancestors. Eve-

ry year I come to my small moth-

erland in the South Kazakhstan 

region.  My  first  desire  to  move 

to Kazakhstan occurred in 1967, 

when I was invited to Almaty. 

There was a team called Lokomo-

tiv. I came and lived in the hotel 

for about six months. They tried to 

obtain the permission of the USSR 

Basketball Federation but they did 

not achieve it because Uzbekistan 

fought for me at the highest level. 

After that, it turned out that I went 

to Moscow to CSKA,” he said.

In Astana, Zharmukhamedov 

held a meeting at the Youth Basket-

ball Academy, where he conducted 

a training session and shared some 

secrets of his mastery.

“Basketball in Astana is develop-

ing, and it is noteworthy that a spe-

cialist from Serbia Dejan Parizha-

nin works in the Youth Academy 

because Serbia is famous all over 

the world for its school of basket-

ball,” he noted.

Zharmukhamedov is the cham-

pion of the 1972 Olympic Games, 

the bronze medalist of the 1976 

Olympics  and  the  first  Kazakh 

who received the title of Olym-

pic champion. Currently he lives 

in Moscow and continues his ac-

tive life in the sports community, 

teaching children basketball.

Alzhan Zharmukhamedov (L) and PBC Astana General  

manager Valery Tikhonenko (R).

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