Kazakhstan team drives 4,400 miles

Kazakhstan is a wonderful country, with beautiful mountains and lakes, says Yevgeny Kuznetsov. Just don't try to find a decent bowling alley there. “Maybe about 60 people bowl seriously in my country,” he said. Asia is the world's most populous continent, but it is by no means the richest. And when it comes to sports, especially the lesser-known or more expensive ones, it isn't always easy to find a place to train. “I had to go to Florida,” Kuznetsov said. He bowled his first game four years ago while vacationing with friends in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. He's now on the Kazakhstan national team. It's not just bowling. As Doha hosts Asia's biggest sports event, the Asian Games, the difference between the haves and the have nots is clear. The big three sports nations in the region ― China, Japan and South Korea ― are also among the richest and the most willing to spend big to support their athletes. While Chinese swimmers can expect big bonuses for winning, some Palestinian athletes had to buy their own uniforms. Iraq's lone pair of women beach volleyball players had to train indoors, not on sand, for lack of a proper beach venue. “We are here just to show that Iraq exists,” said Liza Agasi, who paired up with her sister for the games. They were drubbed by the Japanese in their opening match. Many countries in the Asian Games don't have the resources to field teams for such events as sailing or softball, which has only five teams. Shooting, meanwhile, has a full field, often with police officers or soldiers filling out the list of competitors. Kazakhstan may have the saddest hard-luck story. When the equestrian team from the former Soviet republic realized it couldn't afford to fly its team and horses from its base in Germany to Doha, it decided to drive nearly 7,000 kilometers (4,400 miles) to the Arabian Gulf for the competition. The Associated Press