Let's recall interesting things that happened in the field of sports in Central Asia in 2022.
The year started with the ITF 25 Navi Mumbai International tournament. Tennis player from Kazakhstan Zhibek Kulambayeva became the winner in doubles and brought the country her first title in 2022.
In January, another Kazakhstani tennis player Anna Danilina made a sensation. She won the title of champion of the WTA 500 tournament for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan. Together with Beatrice Haddad Maya, they won the prestigious Sydney Tennis Classic tournament.
The next wins also belong to tennis players. In January 2022, Elena Rybakina @lenarybakina rose to 12th place in the ranking of female athletes of the WTA:Women's Tennis Association. This is a historical record for Kazakhstan tennis, previously athletes did not occupy such high positions. For now Elena takes the 14th place.
Bagdat Zhubanysh @bagdatzhubanysh — an MMA fighter from Kazakhstan — further set a historic achievement. He became the first three-time world champion after winning the MMA World Championship in the UAE.
Kazakhstani sportsman Zhanna Mamazhanova @zhanmamazhan took third place at the NN Rotterdam Marathon. She covered the distance in two hours, 26 minutes and 54 seconds. Thus, Zhanna updated the 34-year-old record of the country, which previously belonged to Zoya Ivanova.
The victory that everyone remembers is the Wimbledon final, where Elena Rybakina beat the second number of the world ranking Ons Jaber from Tunisia.
In 2022, Oceanman was held in Kazakhstan for the first time. The event brought together athletes from all regions of Kazakhstan and from other countries. Oceanman Kazakhstan has become the most massive launch of the series over the past three years.
Another achievement that everyone was discussing was the seventh place of track and field athlete Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui at the World Championships. She stands for Kazakhstan. And at the athletics competitions, in the final 10,000 meters race among women, Caroline set a new record for Kazakhstan. Now it is 30:17.64.
This year, the Kyrgyz national team took part in the World Horseball Cup in France. Horseball is a sport, a combination of polo, rugby, netball and basketball. It is played on horseback.
One of the main sporting events of Central Asia in 2022 was the Ironman series triathlon competition. This year, not only BI Group Ironman 70.3 Astana participants came to the start, but also BI Group Ironman Kazakhstan full-distance races. In total there were participants from 75 countries.
Ramina Tsoi from Kyrgyzstan joined the refereeing team and was a referee at the Women's World Cup Costa Rica.
One of the most expected sporting events of 2022 is the fight between Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. This is the third duel of athletes, held in Las Vegas. Saul Alvarez won.
Also in 2022, Kazakhstan hosted the prestigious international table tennis tournament WTT Contender Almaty for the first time. It was held from September 13 to 18 at the Almaty Table Tennis Center ADD.
Another prestigious tournament was held in Astana in October. The capital of Kazakhstan hosted the ATP 500 tournament for the first time. This is the third most important men's tennis tournament after the Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, where the best tennis players in the world meet.
And the World Sambo Championship was held in Kyrgyzstan for the first time. It was held from November 11 to 13 in the capital of the country — Bishkek.
