On the margins of the 2026 Asian Games karate competition in Aichi-Nagoya, the conversation moved from the arena to the table. World Karate Federation President Antonio Espinós sat down with Yerbol Myrzabossynov, Minister of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan — a meeting that joined competitive heat already written on the tatami with a longer look at how the sport grows at home and how it might travel.
A meeting framed by the Games
WKF reported the encounter on 24 September 2026. Beside Espinós and the minister sat WKF General Secretary Toshihisa Nagura, Kazakhstan Karate Federation Secretary General Askar Moldagali and Kazakhstan Karate Federation Vice-President Bolat Khavlahat. The gathering, WKF wrote, offered space to review the development of karate in Kazakhstan and internationally, and to discuss the potential for the country to host major karate events in the future.
The federation's note places that potential carefully beside another observation: Kazakhstan has established a strong presence in international karate competition, with athletes regularly achieving notable results at major events, and the continued development of the sport reflecting growing interest across the region. Potential for major hosting, then, sits in the same paragraph as a record already visible on the circuit — not as a substitute for it.
The top picture released with the WKF note shows, from left to right, Minister Myrzabossynov, President Espinós and General Secretary Nagura. Two further images from the same file frame the handshake and the seated delegation. Credit: wkf.net.
Two golds that set the tone
Four days earlier, on 20 September, Day One of Asian Games karate in Aichi-Nagoya had already given Kazakhstan a double signature on the opening podium. The Games' karate programme ran through 23 September; the first day set the tone before ministers and federation officers sat down. Zholaman Bigabyl took gold in the men's kumite −55 kg weight category, defeating Uzbekistan's Khumoyunmirzo Khalimov 9–1 in the final. Sofya Berultseva claimed gold in the women's kumite +68 kg weight category, controlling Thailand's Maneevan Butsuwan 8–0.
Those results belong to the public Day One record published by WKF: two named champions, two weight categories, one opening day. Around them, Kuwait's Abdullah Shaaban (men's kumite −60 kg) and Japan's Maho Ono (women's individual kata) completed the first quartet of Asian Games golds. The minister's visit, days later, arrived against that competitive backdrop — athletes already visible, federation and state seated at the same table.
Espinós on popularity, results and society
After the meeting, Espinós spoke in clear, measured lines. WKF recorded his words in full:
"I would like to thank Minister Myrzabossynov for taking the time to meet with us here in Aichi-Nagoya. Karate is one of the most popular sports in Kazakhstan, and the outstanding results of the Kazakh team in international competitions are a clear showcase of this popularity. We are pleased to see that Karate continues to grow in the region and that our sport continues to leave its mark on Kazakh society."
Popularity, results, regional growth, a mark on society: the sequence stays inside what the president chose to say. WKF's report also underlines close cooperation between the world federation and the Kazakhstan Karate Federation, and opportunities to develop karate further through international events and initiatives — the same horizon already sketched in the meeting's agenda. In the published captions, Nagura appears again at Espinós's side; Moldagali and Khavlahat complete a national-federation presence that matches the ministerial level across the table.
Astana 2027: a Premier League date already on the map
Separately from any future major events still framed as potential, the 2027 WKF competition calendar is concrete. Unveiled on 28 July 2026, it places four Karate One Premier League stops on the season: Istanbul on 29–31 January, Rome on 11–14 March, Astana on 7–9 May, and Rabat on 4–6 June, where the Grand Winners Gala also closes the circuit. The WKF calendar page lists the Astana Premier League in the same May window; the dedicated championship page carries the Astana 2027 identity.
So the diplomatic conversation in Aichi-Nagoya does not invent Astana. Astana is already a third step on the Premier League ladder after Istanbul and Rome — a confirmed international stage on Kazakh soil, months after Asian Games golds and a ministerial handshake in Japan. Between the July calendar launch and the September meeting in Aichi-Nagoya, the date had already entered the public record; the meeting adds political and federative texture around a host city the season already names.
From continental heat to a longer horizon
Asian Games karate is a continental multi-sport chapter: four days, elite fields, medals that travel home with flags and weight categories attached. A presidential meeting with a sports minister is another register — development reviewed, cooperation named, potential for major hosting spoken in WKF's own measured vocabulary. Between those registers sits the calendar line that needs no speculation: Premier League Astana, 7–9 May 2027.
For Kazakhstan, the week around Aichi-Nagoya therefore reads as a braid rather than a single headline. Bigabyl and Berultseva opened the Games with gold. Espinós, Nagura, Moldagali, Khavlahat and Minister Myrzabossynov sat down while the competition still framed the city. And the federation's published 2027 season already points east to the tatami of Astana. Path, not prophecy — and enough, for a magazine page, to hold the international line from Japan toward Central Asia's next Premier League stop.
Sources
- https://www.wkf.net/news-center/article/!/3308/wkf-president-antonio-espinos-meets-kazakhstan-minister-of-sports-and-tourism-in-aichi-nagoya
- https://www.wkf.net/news-center/article/!/3302/four-champions-crowned-on-day-one-of-karate-at-2026-asian-games
- https://www.wkf.net/news-center/article/!/3250/wkf-launches-2027-competition-calendar-featuring-packed-international-season
- https://www.wkf.net/calendar
- https://www.wkf.net/karate-one/championship/!/450/2027-karate-one-premier-league-astana
Photo credit: wkf.net
