A long Nauryz weekend brought Kazakhstan sports victories in fencing, trampoline gymnastics, and tennis, but also a major defeat for the national football team, QazMonitor reports.
The Kazakh national fencing team clinched their first licenses for the Olympics securing four quotas. Danil Mussabayev earned one trampoline gymnastics license for Kazakhstan for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games. So far, the Kazakh delegation has secured 31 licenses across 11 sports for the event. On a sad note for local fans, the Kazakh national football team suffered a defeat in the decisive Euro 2024 qualification match in Greece.
Find out more information about this and other sports achievements in the digest by QazMonitor based on reports by the National Olympic Committee and Kazakhstan Football Federation.
Football: Kazakhstan ends qualification race for Euro 2024
On March 22, the Kazakh national football team faced Greece in their Euro 2024 play-off semi-final at OPAP Arena in Athens. The game ended in a major victory for the hosts as Team Kazakhstan failed to find the net with a score of 5:0.
"Tonight’s match and result were a huge blow to our morale and to our ego. The scoreline is fair, we did not deserve to take anything. The Greek team were deserved winners and they showed it on the pitch," Magomed Adiev, Kazakhstan coach, told UEFA.com postgame.
Greece took an early lead with a penalty by Tasos Bakasetas in the 8th minute, followed by goals from Georgios Masouras, Dimitrios Pelkas, and Fotis Ioannidis, ending the first half 4-0. An own goal by Yerkin Tapalov in the 85th minute sealed the victory for Greece.
The Kazakh team completed the fight for one of the three remaining spots in UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. On the way to the decider game in Athens, Kazakhstan had secured a home victory against Denmark and away wins in Finland and Northern Ireland.
Tennis: Rybakina’s second consecutive quarter-final, Putintseva beats Kalinina at Miami Open
On March 25, No.4 seed Elena Rybakina reached her second consecutive Miami Open quarter-final of the WTA-1000.
In the fourth round, Rybakina beat No.17 seed Madison Keys from the U.S., with a score of 6:3, 7:5. The meeting lasted one hour and 24 minutes. Rybakina hit five aces, made one double fault and converted three out of eight possible break points. The overall head-to-head score between Rybakina and Keys became 2:2.
To reach the semi-finals of the competition in Miami, Rybakina will face No.9 seed Maria Sakkari from Greece. The game takes place on March 27 (Astana time).
In the fourth round match of the WTA-1000 Miami Open, No.68 seed Yulia Putintseva beat No.36 seed, Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, with a score of 6:4, 7:6 (7:5). The match lasted two hours and 21 minutes. Putintseva hit one ace, made no double faults, and converted three out of nine break points. Now the score in the head-to-head meetings is 3:1 in favor of Putintseva.
In the Miami Open quarter-finals on March 26, Putintseva will play with No. 27 seed Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.
Fencing: Team Kazakhstan qualifies for the Olympic Games
On March 24, Kazakh men's fencing team qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. To secure the quota, Kazakh fencers competed against South Korea.
In the 1/8 finals, the Korean team was defeated by the Czech Republic, thereby ending their participation in the team competition. Before the fencing World Cup stage in Tbilisi, our team held a 26-point lead over South Korea in the rankings. Now, Kazakh fencers are beyond the reach of the competitors, securing the top position in the Asian rankings, excluding Japan, which had a direct quota by finishing within the top four in the overall standings.
Securing the epee license marks a historical milestone for Kazakhstan, as the national team has never before competed at the Olympic Games. The ticket was earned by Ruslan Kurbanov, Vadim Sharlaimov, Elmir Alimzhanov, and Yerlik Sertay.
A total of 212 fencers will compete at the Paris Games (106 men and 106 women). France, as the host country, reserved six quotas (three of each gender). And two more quotas will be distributed according to the principle of universality (one for each gender).
Trampoline Gymnastics: First-ever Olympic license for Kazakh athletes
On March 25, Kazakhstan’s trampoline gymnasts secured a license for the Olympic Games. The license was awarded to Danil Mussabayev following his performance at the World Cup in Cottbus, Germany.
Despite his 47th-place finish at the World Cup stage in Germany, Danil Mussabayev's efforts were instrumental in securing the license for Kazakhstan. His performances at the stages in Portugal (9th place), and in the US (20th place) were crucial, as the best results from two out of five World Cup stages are considered for qualification.
The Olympic selection process for this sport has been completed, with a total of 16 men and 16 women set to compete in Paris. Kazakhstan secured the 14th position among countries in terms of Olympic representation.
