Sabina Altynbekova: Volleyball Player Deemed Too Hot For Sport Wants Fans To Settle Down

Sabina Altynbekova is a volleyball player for Kazakhstan in the Asian Under-19 Championships who critics say is too hot to play.

Sabina, a 17-year-old who just wants to focus on her sports career, is being bombarded with accusations that she is too distracting to fans, the media, and even other players.

After she appeared in the nine-day championship in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, the teenager caused a stir among many who admired her for her good looks and six-foot-tall frame. One local paper even printed a 10-page spread to showcase photos of Altynbekova, according to The Independent.

Since Sabina Altynbekova’s appearance in the championship, a new Facebook page devoted to Sabina has gained over 200,000 likes and a Twitter account has over 29,000 followers. The accounts are reportedly not officially affiliated or approved of by Altynbekova. YouTube videos edited to show only Sabina playing on the court have earned over one million views.

Sabina Alytnbekova has even inspired an anime-style cartoon and photo collages put together by her entranced fans.

Her coach, Nurlan Sadikov, is not happy about all of the attention that Sabina has been receiving because of her looks.

Sadikov told Tengrin News, translated by the Daily Mail, “It’s impossible to work like this. The crowd behaves like there is only one player in the championship.”

Sabina was very surprised at how people were showering her with attention.

“Honestly, I myself was very surprised,” Altynbekova said in an interview with Vesti. “I am a simple, ordinary girl from Kazakhstan… I was struck by the popularity.”

However, now that new social networking accounts have been opened up in her name without her consent and fans have not settled down, Altynbekova wants the attention to stop so she can focus on sports and live life normally without unwanted and excessive attention.

“I was flattered at first but it’s all getting a little bit much. I want to concentrate on playing volleyball and to be famous for that, not anything else,” Sabina Altynbekova told reporters.

Sabina Altynbekova has confirmed that she only has an official account on the Russian-language social media website VK and Instagram. Sabina asked her fans through Instagram to tell others that any other accounts made in her name were fake.

Sabina Altynbekova has entered Kazakh University for Humanities and Law, but sports continue to be her passion.

[Image via Vesti]