At the “Ақ бидай” VIII Republican Rural Sports Games held in Besagash village, Talgar district, Almaty region, Amina Alemkyzy, a third-year student of the Linguistic Communication Department at the Business and Communication School of Shakarim University, won 3rd place in the individual competition in the traditional intellectual game of Toguz Kumalak.

For one week, the country’s best national intellectual game masters competed to determine the strongest. The local rural sports competition was held in Almaty region from September 16 to 21 with intense rivalry.

A total of 123 athletes from 16 regions of Kazakhstan participated in the Toguz Kumalak competition. Among them were one international master of sports, 16 masters of sports, 64 candidates for master of sports, and 42 athletes of first and second categories. The tournament was held over 7 rounds according to the Swiss system.

The “Ақ бидай” project is a unique initiative that gives a new impetus to the development of rural sports. It includes 20 sports disciplines across national, individual, strength, and intellectual categories. The competition program features sports such as kokpar, Kazakh wrestling, shooting at the target (zhamby atu), ankle bone shooting (asyq atu), Toguz Kumalak, table tennis, and mini-football.

“‘Ақ бидай’ is a platform that opens the way for young athletes from rural areas to develop. The President of the country constantly emphasizes the importance of mass sports development. Sport is the key to the nation’s health. Today, most Olympic medalists and world champions come from villages. Therefore, the ‘Ақ бидай’ rural sports games are an important event that raises the spirit of rural youth,” said Akzhurek Dostykuly Tangatarov, Head of the Almaty Regional Department of Physical Culture and Sports.

This competition, as the largest republican event among rural athletes, has made a significant contribution to the development of Toguz Kumalak and the promotion of national sports.