Winter Games
The 2011 Asian Winter Games have come to an end.
They were held just over the border in Kazakhstan, or at least some of the 69 events in 11 different sports were held just over the border in Almaty, others were held in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
It was a big event for Kazakhstan, the first time they have hosted such a major sporting event since they became an independent country on the break up of the former Soviet Union. They put a lot of effort into preparing venues and facilities for the games.
The country hosted over 800 sportsmen from 26 different countries, (27 if you count Indonesia who sent some officials although they didn’t have anyone competing in events). Kyrgyzstan sent a team of some 53 sportsmen to compete in Alpine Skiing, Bandy, Biathlon, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey and Ski Orienteering.
Kazakhstan, as the host nation must have benefitted from home advantage and had a good Games, topping the final medal table having scooped up some seventy medals, including 32 Golds, 21 Silver and 17 Bronze.
Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, had a somewhat disappointing games.
Their competitor in the Figure Skating competition had to withdraw for technical reasons.
However, they did manage to get onto the medal table, well, sort of.
The Men’s Ice Hockey Team travelled to Astana. However, as some of the teams in this competition were so strong compared to others, apparently there was some concern amongst the organizers that if they all competed in open competition then these would be able to run up “cricket scores” against their weaker opponents. So the competing teams were divided into two separate Leagues. In the First Division, the likes of China, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Taiwan battled it out with Kazakhstan finally taking the coveted Gold medal place. In the other Division, Kyrgyzstan played alongside Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, and The United Arab Emirates.
Now, Kyrgyzstan doesn’t have a strong record when it comes to Ice Hockey. They are not listed amongst the 69 countries featured on the International Ice Hockey Federation website and, althoughy I may be wrong in this, as far as I can ascertain, they seem to have only played one “international” match before these Games, losing to Lithuania, 7-2, back in 1962, when both were actually parts of the USSR.
This time, however, they topped their division winning all their six matches, scoring 95 goals and conceding just 23. As leaders of their division, they were awarded a Gold Medal, although it is noted in the medal table, doesn’t count in the final tally.
They did win another medal, a Bronze medal in the Bandy competition – and its not a joke.
No, that’s not a spelling mistake.
Bandy is an old game rather similar to Ice Hockey – a form of Field Hockey played in the open air, on ice, but using a ball rather than a puck. It is sometimes called Russian Hockey but in Russian it is known as “Hockey with a Ball”. In fact, it is not a wholly Russian preserve but is played in a wide range of countries. There are 27 members in the International Federation, including Belorus, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the USA … and Kyrgyzstan.
Some sources seem to suggest that the game originated in England, but this isn’t clear and if this is true then it seems to have disappeared from its native land sometime before the first world war. It is also considered to have been an “ancestor” of Ice Hockey – created (or, at least, codified) in North America in the nineteenth century, but – once again – this isn’t clear.
There are hopes that one day it will become an Olympic sport – it was a demonstration sport at the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo and has, apparently, been recognized as an Olympic Sport bt the International Olympic Committee, (IOC).
Even if it is not yet in the Olympics, it was included in these games. The competition, however, was somewhat limited. Only four nations registered to send a team and, in the end, the team from Tajikistan never appeared. So, in the end only Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia competed for the medals and Kyrgyzstan was more or less guaranteed at least a Bronze … and that’s what they got. Kazakhstan walked off with the Gold, having won their two games; Mongolia the Silver, having beaten Kyrgyzstan but losing to Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, having lost both its games, naturally came bottom of the table … but still got that vital medal that put them on the medals table.
I wonder if all this “success” means that we will now see a revival in Ice Hockey and Bandy in Kyrgyzstan.
Bishkek