Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a bandy ball into the opposing team's goal.
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, also known as Kirghizia, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's six million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. The Kyrgyz language is closely related to other Turkic languages, although Russian remains spoken and is an official language, a legacy of a century of Russification. Ninety percent of Kyrgyzstan's population are Muslim, with the majority of its population following Sunni Islam. In addition to its Turkic origins, Kyrgyz culture bears elements of Iranic, Mongolian and Russian influence.
The Kyrgyzstan national football team, officially recognised by FIFA and AFC as Kyrgyz Republic, represents Kyrgyzstan in international football and is controlled by the Kyrgyz Football Union, a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Central Asian Football Association.
The Myanmar national football team represents Myanmar in men's international football and is governed by the Myanmar Football Federation.
The Bandy World Championship is a competition between bandy-playing nations' men's teams. The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy. It is distinct from the Bandy World Cup, a club competition, and from the Women's Bandy World Championship.
Kazakhstan consistently performs in Olympic competitions. It is especially successful in boxing. This has brought some attention to the Central Asian nation, and increased world awareness of its athletes. Kazakhstan's city of Almaty submitted twice bid for the Winter Olympics: In 2014 and again for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Nur-Sultan and Almaty hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games.
The Federation of International Bandy is the international governing body for the sport of bandy, including the variant called rink bandy.
The Mongolian national bandy team is controlled by the Bandy Federation of Mongolia. The team took part in its first Bandy World Championship in 2006. They won the 1st match against Estonia, but lost all subsequent games including the match for the 4th place in Group B against the Netherlands. Mongolia thus was classified fifth in the B Group championship, ahead of only Estonia.
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all Asian countries. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, basketball, badminton and table tennis among others. Top sporting nations in Asia include China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Uzbekistan.
Rugby union in Kyrgyzstan is a minor but growing sport.
Kyrgyzstan participated in the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Almaty and Astana, Kazakhstan from January 30, 2011 to February 6, 2011. The bandy team took the country's 1st ever medal at Asian Winter Games.
The Kyrgyzstan national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Kyrgyzstan. They are controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic and has been an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). As of 2019, Kyrgyzstan is currently ranked 52nd in the IIHF World Ranking.
The 2012 Bandy World Championship was an edition of the top annual event in international bandy, held between January 29 and February 5, 2012, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 14 countries participated in the 2012 championships: Finland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United States, Belarus, Canada, Hungary, Latvia, and the Netherlands, and Estonia, Japan, and Kyrgyzstan. Group C was introduced, and 14 teams made the record number for Bandy World Championships. The qualifiers match between the team in the last place in Group A and the first team in Group B was not played. The United States, who finished sixth in Group A, in 2013 will play in group B, and Belarus, the winner of Group B, will play in 2013 in Group A. Estonia, the winner of Group C, will play in Group B in 2013. The team relegated to Group C was not the last of Group B, but Mongolia, because they withdrew late from the tournament.
The Bandy Federation of India takes care of Bandy in India. Its headquarters are in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Bandy is generally played in northern India where there is generally snow and ice. India is one of seven countries in Asia and in total 32 to be a member of Federation of International Bandy. BFI planned to send a team to the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Astana-Almaty, but ultimately didn't. To the World Championship that year India was not allowed to come because the tournament format at the time did not allow several new countries. The international debut was then supposed to take place at the first Asian Bandy Championships, which was to be held in Almaty in December 2012. However, that tournament did not take place.
Aisuluu Tynybekova is a Kyrgyzstani freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the women's 62 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She also competed in the women's 63 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the first woman to wrestle for Kyrgyzstan in the Olympics. A legal dispute threatened to prevent Tynybekova from competing in London, but the case was delayed until after the Games. Tynybekova was eliminated in the 1/8 finals by Henna Johansson.
Kazakhstan competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era. The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan fielded a roster of 104 athletes, 55 men and 49 women, to compete across seventeen different sports at these Games, the smallest Summer Olympic team since the nation's debut in Atlanta 1996. Moreover, Kazakhstan did not send teams in any of the team sports for the first time in twenty years. Track and field accounted for the largest number of athletes on the Kazakh squad, with 25 entries. There was a single competitor each in slalom canoeing, track cycling, fencing, and table tennis.
Kyrgyzstan competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
World Nomad Games are an international sport competition dedicated to ethnic sports practiced in Central Asia. The first three World Nomad Games were held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan; however, Turkey has been announced as the host of the fourth games.
The Kyrgyzstan competed at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, from 18 August to 2 September 2018. Kyrgyzstan made its first appearance at the Asian Games in 1994 Hiroshima, and the best achievement was in the 2002 Busan, with a gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals. At the last edition in Incheon, Kyrgyzstan managed to claim 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.
Kazakhstan is currently competing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
