Draft:Sabina Altynbekova

Sabina Abaevna Altynbekova (Сабина Абайқызы Алтынбекова; born 5 November 1996) is a Kazakh professional volleyball player. She is 182 cm tall at 58 kg and plays in the outside hitter position. Currently, she plays for Al Wasl in the United Arab Emirates.

Early life and education
She was born in Aktobe, Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan to Abay Altynbekov and Nuripa Altynbekova (née Amrievna). She belongs to the Tabyn clan of the Zhetyru tribe. Her father, Abhay was fond of skiiing, while her mother Nuripa had a background in volleyball and athletics.

Sabina who was always interested in outdoor activities, decided to dabble in dancing as a 5 years old, where joined a local dance club, although she couldn't hone her talents enough pursue the art of dancing professionally.

In 2008, when she was 11 years old, she started her journey in amateur volleyball, by playing for the local club Kazchrome. At the age of 14, she became serious about pursuing career in volleyball, as she was nominated as a captain of her local club Kazchrome; and began participating in various local and regional volleyball tournaments.

As result of her skill in volleyball, Sabina was selected to attend a prestigious boarding school called, Republican Sports School of Olympic Reserve (республиканской спортивной школы олимпийского резерва), in Almaty, with other child athletes.

Before she was enrolled at the above-mentioned Olympic Reserve School, Sabina was a student of School-Gymnasium No. 9 (Школа-Гимназия №9) at her native city of Aktobe. Her physical education teacher back than was Valery Polivoda.

Club
Sabina first tried her hands in volleyball, when she began playing for club by the name of Kazchrome club in 2008, for whom she eventually became the captain of the team. It should be noted at this point, she was playing in amateur junior volleyball league.

Then she started playing for Almatinochka-Almaty professionally, with whom she earned silver-medal, in Kazakhstan's Major League A in the 2013-14 season. Later on she plied her trade in Japan V.League Division 3, where played for GSS Sunbeams from 2015-2016.

International
Sabina

Personal life
Sabina has two sisters, Karina (oldest sister) and Guldana (youngest sister), of whom she is second eldest. In 2014, Altynbekova was enrolled at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, at Humanities & Law department, where she was also member of Almaty Volleyball Club. She graduated from her university in 2019. Altynbekova is a devout Muslim. Although Sabina was offered modelling contracts by various agencies, she turned them down because her parents are primarily against it, and she, herself, is more focused on her volleyball career.

In 2014, she became volunteer for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, along with international celebrities like Heidi Klum, Jackie Chan & Pierce Brosnan. In the same year she opted to join in on the ice bucket challenge, to raise awareness about the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease. In the same year Altynbekova participated in the opening of Eurasian Film Festival in Almaty, where she handed the award to Russian director Sergey Solovyev for his contribution to world cinema. The Eurasian Film Festival in Almaty was not without controversies, as it allowed movies from all over Eurasia like South Korea, Japan, Iran, Iraq, Albania, Italy, Georgia, Estonia, Russia, France, Croatia, Iceland, Germany, Norway, Spain, Ireland, and Israel; but barred entries to Kazakhstan neighbors like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan.

In November 02, 2014, Altynbekova was invited as chief guest at an event in Nha Trang, Vietnam, organized by Fashion House International. It was three-day cultural exchange event which included modeling competitions, art, singing & fashion shows held at Amiana Hotel. It featured guests and participants from countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, America, India, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. This event attracted 100 participants. Altynbekova's immediate family was invited to the occasion by Fashion House International. In order to ensure that Altynbekova wouldn't miss her training, the organizer also provided training facilities for the volleyball superstar.

In 2015 Altynbekova was appointed as a member of National Commission for Women's Affairs and Demographic Policy, by than the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In 2017, Sabina launched her own clothing brand by name of S20, which offers sweatshirts, tracksuits, and miscellaneous sportswear.

On 25 December 2020, she was married to businessman/film producer Sayat Salmanuly; with whom she has a son. Her husband is eight years older than her, being born on 30 July 1988.

Around the same time, in December 2020, Altynbekova became one of the most followed, volleyball player on Instagram, joining the likes of Seyed Mohammad Mousavi, Bruno Rezende, Alyssa Valdez, Pleumjit Thinkaow, Jaqueline Carvalho & Saeid Marouf in the list.

In her free time, she is a fan of skiing and paragliding.

Altynbekova is currently, the 11th richest volleyball player in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$4.7 million; earned primarily through her sport contracts, sponsorships and real estate investments.

Individuals

 * 2015 Best Player of the Year in the Japanese Women's League

National team

 * 2012 Kazakhstan Junior Team (7th Place Finish in the Asian Championship)


 * 2014 Captain of the U-23 team Kazakhstan Team (6th Place Finish in the Asian Championship)

Club team

 * 2013 Major League A (Almatinochka-Almaty-[[File:Med_2.png]] Silver Medal)


 * 2015 Japan V.League Division 3 (GSS Sunbeams-[[File:Med_3.png]] Bronze Medal)


 * 2018 UAE First League (Wild Cats-[[File:Med_3.png]] Bronze Medal)


 * 2019 Arab Clubs Championship (Al Wasl-5th Place Finish)


 * 2020 UAE First League (Al Wasl-[[File:Med_3.png]] Bronze Medal)
 * 2021 UAE First League (Al Wasl-[[File:Med_2.png]] Silver Medal)
 * 2022 UAE First League (Al Wasl-[[File:Med_1.png]] Gold Medal)