The Kazakhstan national rugby team will meet with the Qatar national team at the Asian Championship tournament, which will be held in Sri Lanka. We are pleased to announce that this time the number of players who will defend the honor of the national team includes Kazakh Ali Bukeikhan Surer, who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and was invited to the Turkish national team at the age of 18. He recently moved from the Turkish national team to the Kazakhstan national team.

Before the game, we contacted Ali Bukeikhan, wished him good luck in his first game in the national team, and talked to him.

Ali Bokeikhan, who said that defending the honor of Kazakhstan, being part of the national team is a great honor, one of the values ​​that has been firmly entrenched in his heart since his youth.

- What prompted you to join the Kazakhstan national rugby team? If you go back in time, my childhood passion for rugby led me to become a member of the German youth team. When I turned 18, I decided to join the Turkish men's national team. It was a great honor for me to defend the honor of Turkey. Because this is the place where my parents were born, the country that accepted my grandparents. Therefore, deep down I felt that I had an outstanding debt or some kind of responsibility towards the Turkish team. I'm glad I took this step and was able to do it. The path of searching for these roots led me from Germany to Turkey, and now from Turkey to the land of my ancestors, my ancestral homeland – Kazakhstan,” he says.

Ali Bukeikhan told us that his main goal in joining the Kazakhstan national team is to contribute to the development of rugby in the country. According to him, this alone is an invaluable motivation for him.

“To have the honor of representing my country, my land, my family and glorifying my history is a special honor and noble goal for me. I grew up far from Kazakhstan, but despite the distance, I felt similarity and identity, closeness. That is, I again consider this my filial duty. I want to help the team, I want to help rugby and I won't regret it, I'll contribute as much as I can. This alone is a great motivation for me, I don’t need anything else.

He said that coming from Germany to Kazakhstan was a big step, and noted that there were many obstacles in everyday life and work. Therefore, if possible, you should not leave for permanent residence in another country.

- Yes, this is my historical homeland and I love this wonderful country, people, nature with all my heart. However, moving from Germany to Kazakhstan was a big step, I feel like I moved from one world to another. In general I have no objections, but I can say that I am a little tired in terms of language. Most of the work here is done in Russian, and Kazakhs, born and raised in Germany, do not know Russian, and this creates some problems. If the opportunity arises, then most likely in the future I will move to a permanent place of residence. But my current job allows me to work remotely in Kazakhstan for one month every year. Therefore, I can say that I have a common intention,” he said frankly.

Ali Bukeikhan believes that the potential for the development of rugby in Kazakhstan is enormous. He noticed that the children's team was also in good shape. “Fighting is in our blood,” he says.In addition, he emphasized what steps should be taken to develop the sport as a whole.

- I can say that the potential of rugby in Kazakhstan is enormous. It is clear that the women's team is very good, hardworking, has great potential, strong players, qualified coaches, organized, good managers. The men's team, in my opinion, is very well prepared and in good shape. The guys train every day. As I noticed, they are also supported by the Rugby Federation. Therefore, in my opinion, in order to increase the potential of the national team, it is necessary to hold more competitions, more games. In general, it is better to hold more games in Kazakhstan or abroad. It is necessary to teach this to the younger generation and children. In addition, it should be noted that children's rugby is developing well. As descendants of heroes, we love to fight, it's in our blood. This can be observed in wrestling, boxing and other sports. So I think that's a good quality to have in rugby as well. Because you need to be vigilant, strong physically and mentally. I think that the Kazakh people can coordinate all this very well. That is, we have great potential, but we must be able to fully use it and present it to the public. Therefore, it would be great if tournaments were held at the highest level. This will undoubtedly lift the spirits of our players. Therefore, if the team continues to work hard, I am confident that they will reach great heights in the future,” concluded Ali Bokeyhan.

We wish success to the national team and Ali, who will be competing at the world level for the first time on behalf of his historical homeland, we wish all his plans to be realized in the best possible way.

 

Dilda UALIBEK

turkystan.kz

translated by Qazalem