17-year-old Sabina Altynbekova says she is tired of the extra attention she gets for her looks.
Sabina Altynbekova, a 17-year-old member of the Kazakhstan women’s national volley team, has complained about the attention she gets from the crowd for her looks, and requests fans to rather judge her by her performance.
While taking part in the 2014 Asian Junior Women’s Volleyball Championship in Taiwan, Altynbekova became a very popular face, largely because of her good looks, and the popularity grew in such a pace that she gained more than 200,000 subscribers in her Instagram account since then.
“I was flattered at first but it's all getting a little bit much,” she was quoted by the Daily Mail. “I want to concentrate on playing volleyball and to be famous for that, not anything else."
Altynbekova expressing her discontent in the manner she became famous
I want to concentrate on playing volleyball and became famous was not anything else I hope I do all the best and hope to play in Rio 2016
— Sabina Altynbekova (@altynbekova_20) July 26, 2014
Her popularity had been creating problems for her coach Nurlan Sadikov who says it has been very difficult to work with her in the team.
“It is impossible to work like this,” Sadikov told Tengrin news. ”The crowd behaves like there is only one player at the championship.”
When asked about the attention her daughter was receiving for her looks, Altynbekova’s mother Nuripa Amrievna said Sabina had always wanted to be a model.
“But she will not go there [and become a model], we as parents are against it,” Amrievna said.
The U-19 team finished 7th in the tournament with Altynbekova herself spending most of her time on the bench.
But, is she any good in the game? Watch her play
Fan-made anime photos of Altynbekova
It didn’t take long before fans started coming up with their own anime illustrations for their newest crush.
‘Animated’ Sabina Altynbekova
Her Instagram account has more than 250,000 followers
Originally published on Sportskeeda.com here