On 12 and 13 April 2024, Dimash’s Japanese fans met at a tennis match in Tokyo to support Kazakhstan’s national team. “The Billie Jean King Cup” is the largest women’s sporting competition where tennis players from around the world take part every year.
This year’s match was held between the teams of Kazakhstan and Japan in the Asian block of the competition. Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, Zhibek Kulambayeva, Aruzhan Sagandikova, Anna Danilina, and Zarina Diyas competed against Japan’s Nao Hibino, Mai Hontama, Naomi Osaka, Ena Shibahara, and Shuko Aoyama.
Last month, the Japanese Dears received a message from Dimash fans in Latin America who had been actively supporting the Kazakh team in Chile and Argentina. Carmen passed the baton to the Japanese Dears to continue to support the Kazakh athletes on behalf of the entire international Dears community.
“We love Kazakhstan,” Dimash’s Dears emphasised, reflecting the general mood of the Japanese fans. “It was fun and inspiring to support the team together with other Kazakhstan fans.
The Billie Jean King Cup was held at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, the holy of holies of Japanese tennis. We were delighted to be invited to support the Kazakhstan team. All the Dears wore matching T-shirts in the colours of the Kazakhstan flag and sang the anthem. We all gathered to support the compatriots of Dimash. When Kazakhstanis saw the letters “DQ” and the balloons we were holding in our hands, they immediately understood why we Japanese came to this match to support Kazakhstan and welcomed us. Alga Kazakhstan!”
The match was broadcast nationwide on the popular TV channel WOWOW Online, where the sports announcer repeatedly mentioned the energy and radiance of Kazakhstan’s fans, who supported the athletes with thunderous applause and cheers.