In the 2007 indoor season he set a personal best with a jump of 16.34 m, which brought him the bronze at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games. Although he repeated as the national outdoor champion, he failed to record a mark at the Summer Universiade in Bangkok later that year. Ektov failed to make the podium at the 2008 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships (ending up fifth), but achieved a significant improvement in his best on the 2008 Asian Grand Prix tour. At the meet in Korat, he won with a mark of 17.07 m, surpassing the 17-metre barrier for the first time. This made him Asia's third best triple jumper that year (behind China's Li Yanxi and Wu Bo), but because it was just short of the Olympic "A" standard Kazakhstan could only send one athlete to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the more experienced Valiyev got the berth.