2017 WU: Ice Hockey Test Event ends in Halyk Arena

ALMATY – The youth ice hockey tournament dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of Independence of Kazakhstan ended in ‘Halyk Arena’. The tournament was hosted also to serve as a test event prior to the 28th Winter Universiade 2017 in Almaty.

The games between ‘Torpedo’-‘Astana’, ‘Barys-2001’-‘Ertis’ and ‘Barys-1999’-‘Yunost’ were played at the last day of the competition. After the last match of the tournament, the winner, team of ‘Barys-1999’ was defined with ‘Yunost’ ending second and ‘Barys-2001’ third. The young athletes were satisfied with the competition and happy with the fact that they were among the first to test the ice rink of the new, high standard sport venue.

Overall, there were 6 youth teams from different regions of Kazakhstan – ‘Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk 99-00’, ‘Ertis 1999-2000’, ‘Astana 2000’, ‘Unist (Karaganda)’, ‘Barys 1999’ and ‘Barys 2001’.

“The technical delegates from FISU were satisfied”, noted Nurzhan Baizakov, men’s ice hockey sport manager. “Of course, there were some remarks that we need to fix before the start of the Universiade and in this regard, the test events served very useful for us. I think that we will hire more specialists, since the Universiade will be twice bigger in terms of scale and pressure. The main challenge that we faced following the youth competition was that there wasn’t any team from Almaty. Thus, a strong team should be created, now after we have great venues, we have a place where the youth can train.”

As of compliance of the new venue ‘Halyk Arena’ with International standards, the observer from FISU Paulo Ferreira said: “I have not seen the venue before, but my colleagues have been here right after the completion, so I had an image of what to expect. Now, I see that the level of preparation is very high, and complies with high standards. It was very important for us to see this test event, after which, we can effectively check all specific zones which is not only the ice rink itself, but also everything which is required for organizational work. We needed to know where and what is located, where and how will be the zones for people organized, dressing rooms, zones for media, etc. The possibility to work here a few weeks before the start of the Universiade is great and gives us opportunity to help the OC. Sometimes, the OC members show us the parts that might become a problem in the future so that we could discuss and find the solution immediately. The OC notices all challenges themselves and work on them, and it is important when people find their weaknesses themselves, because they can focus on their solution. Such attitude is required. I am confident that such hard work is a big challenge, but it must be done, as much will be accomplished now, as easier it will be later, during the Universiade.”

The ‘Halyk Arena’ ice palace, is one of the venues of the 2017 Winter Universiade. The venue comprises a multifunctional ice arena with a 3,000 seating capacity and a small arena with 300 seats. During the Universiade, the arena will hold the men’s ice hockey competition.

(Source: OC Almaty 2017)