Teams from France, Türkiye and the Xinjiang autonomous region complete the podiums
- Kazakhstan triumph in both genders of the 2025 Belt and Road • The Silk Road Journey International Snow Volleyball Invitational Tournament
- France and Xinjiang 3 complete the men’s podium
- Türkiye first runners-up to Kazakhstan 2 in the women’s competition, Kazakhstan 1 get bronze
Kazakhstan swept the gold medals in both genders at the second edition of the Belt and Road • The Silk Road Journey International Snow Volleyball Invitational Tournament that came to a conclusion with great success on Wednesday at the Tianshan Tianchi ski resort in Fukang City, Changji in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China. Defending men’s champions France had to settle for silver, while Xinjiang 3 claimed the bronze. Both Kazakhstani teams made the podium in the women’s competition, with Türkiye in between with silver.
The men’s national team of Kazakhstan, featuring Artem Rovkin, Kirill Gurin, Mokhammad Abdulmajid and Sergey Bogatu on the squad, dominated the tournament and cruised through their five matches without dropping a single set along the way. After finishing on top of the standings in Pool A, they produced a 2-0 (15-11, 15-13) sweep of their semifinal match against Bulgaria. Then, they dethroned France with a 2-0 (15-11, 15-9) victory in the gold medal showdown to claim the trophy.
The men’s final between Kazakhstan and France (Photo credits: YMCC)
To get to the final, France only dropped their opening Pool B set against Bulgaria. Their winning streak was crowned with a 2-0 (15-9, 15-10) semifinal win over hosts Xinjiang 3, who then bounced back with a tight 2-1 (13-15, 16-14, 7-6) comeback against Bulgaria for the bronze in the most contested match of the tournament.
The teams of Xinjiang 2, Xinjiang 1, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia lined up in the places from fourth to eighth in the final standings.
The Kazakhstan 2 squad, composed of Gayana Galash, Mariya Peressetskaya, Merey Kozhakhmet and Taissiya Kurdyumova, also went through their five matches of the single round-robin women’s competition undefeated to emerge on top of the podium. The only set they lost along the way was in what proved to be the deciding match for the first place. In Tuesday’s hard-fought battle (pictured in the main photo), Kazakhstan 2 squeezed out a 2-1 (15-12, 7-15, 7-5) victory over Türkiye, who also swept their other four games in straight sets to earn silver.
Other than the setbacks against their compatriots and against Türkiye, Kazakhstan 1 beat each of the three home teams in straight sets and picked up the bronze. Xinjiang 2, Xinjiang 1 and Xinjiang 3, in that order, took the places from fourth to eighth.
China Volleyball Association Deputy Secretary General Li Guodong and several local officials presented the trophies and the medals at a magnificent closing ceremony that followed the men’s final on Wednesday.
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