Do you hear that? Yes, that's right - it's the sweet metallic sounds of gold, bronze and silver collected by our gifted Kazakh athletes coming back from tournaments from all over the world. The recent Asian championships in taekwondo and rhythmic gymnastics along with the anticipated UFC match in Las Vegas certainly dialed up the heat for the summer after delivering spectacular wins. Qazmonitor gathered the highlights from the games' press releases.
Kazakhstan wins five medals at Asian Taekwondo Championship
Team Kazakhstan has won five medals at the Asian Taekwondo Championship in Chuncheon, South Korea, Kazakhstan Taekwondo Federation reports.
The tournament started on June 24 and ends on June 27. Kazakhstan sent 12 athletes, five of whom earned one silver and four bronze medals for the national team.
On the first day of the championship, Rita Bakisheva won bronze in the 46 kg weight category. Bakisheva started off in the second round where she beat a Kuwaiti athlete with a score of 2:0. She lost her semi-final bout to her opponent from Thailand.
The next day, Taekwondists Zhasurbek Israilov and Botagoz Kapanova each won bronze medals.
The third day concluded with Denis Jansel winning one silver and Smayil Duisebai taking bronze. Jansel, who ranked world number 1 in April in the 73 kg weight class, advanced to the finals with a score of 2:0 but was defeated with a 0:2. Duisebai lost in the semi-finals with a score of 1:2.
Shavkat Rakhmonov won his fourth fight in the UFC
Shavkat Rakhmonov brought American veteran fighter Neil Magny to submission in a welterweight contest at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, SBNation's MMA Mania reports.
Magny opened the first round with an onslaught of kicks before Rakhmonov grabbed his leg and swept him to the canvas. On the floor, the Kazakh fighter landed some clean shots, scoring brief knee on belly positions and a couple of clean elbows as a finish.
At the start of the second round, Rakhmonov stuck some hard jabs followed by a spin kick that toppled Magny from his attempt to score top position. Rakhmonov landed shots at every chance before jumping on the guillotine choke in the closing seconds of the round. With his attempts only putting him into a tighter hold, Magny was forced to surrender three seconds before the end.
For Rahmonov, it was his fourth fight in the UFC. He remains undefeated since his signing. For the more experienced Magny, it was his 27th fight in the UFC and his eighth loss.
Kazakh gymnasts bring home two golds and a silver
The Asian Championship in Rhythmic Gymnastics hosted in Thailand ends with individual gold and silver as well as a group gold for Kazakhstan, according to the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan.
In the all-around category, which involves all four events in women's gymnastics, Aibota Yertaykyzy finished fourth while Elzhana Taniyeva showed the seventh-best result. In the finals of the individual championship, Elzhana Tanieva became the best in the exercise with ribbon and won gold. She also became the silver medalist in the finals of exercise with clubs.
Earlier, Kazakh gymnasts earned the gold medal in the group exercise after scoring a total of 30 points in the finals for hoops.