SPORTSLINE

Boxing

• World Boxing Association (WBA) title holder Vitalii Klitschko will defend his championship belt against Larry "The Legend" Donald in Dortmund, Germany, on November 23. The match is scheduled two weeks prior to Vitalii's brother Vladimir's fifth World Boxing Organization (WBO) title defense against Jameel McCline in Las Vegas on December 7 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. [Editor's note: Klitschko is the spelling used by the two boxers. Previously we had used the spelling "Klychko"]

According to the November 18 issue of Sports Illustrated, which featured an article on the brothers Klitschko titled "The Bruise Brothers," Vitalii's duel with "The Legend" is being regarded as a preparation bout for a highly anticipated title fight with Lennox Lewis, tentatively scheduled for early 2003. A World Boxing Council (WBC) title bout between Vitalii Klitschko and Lennox Lewis was confirmed recently by Lewis coach, Emanuel Steward, during a ceremony in Los Angeles, according to the boxing website www.secondsout.com.

Lewis, who holds the WBC belt and has lost only two of his 43 professional outings, has, according to sources in the boxing world, apparently begun with the mental preparations for a match-up with Vitalii Klitschko. "Vitalii will be the greatest challenge so far in Lennox's career," said Steward. He added that the 31-year-old Vitalii is even more talented than most boxing pundits already rate him. "I am a big fan of both Klitschkos. Vitalii and Vladimir are presently the only fighters who can give Lennox a run for his money. Lennox must first prove his worth against Vitalii, and then he can concentrate on fighting Vladimir," said Steward, who intends to be ringside for Vitalii's fight against Larry Donald.

According to Sports Illustrated,Tommy Brooks, who trained both Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield said, that although he does not see Vitalii beating Lewis, were Vladimir to box Lewis, the Ukrainian would "clean Lennox's clock." The SI article also spoke highly of the intelligence of both brothers, saying: "[Vitalii] Klitschko appears to be more accomplished than Lewis, having hung in with former world [chess] champ Garry Kasparov for 31 moves during a 2001 exhibition. This year he played both Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz - the reigning human and computer champs, respectively - to draws."

• According to American coach Ronny Shields, who was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame recently and named "Trainer of the Year 2002" by that same organization, the Klitschkos are the best boxers in the heavyweight boxing division. Shields, who worked with former champion Holyfield and titleholders Pernell Whitaker, John Molina and Meldrick Taylor, also prepared Tyson for his match with British WBC champion Lewis.

"I know them all. I've seen them all. Either I've coached them myself or I've watched them box. But against the Klitschkos, especially Vladimir, none of them stand as much as a chance," said Shields in an interview in Los Angeles on October 31, according to www.eastsideboxing.com.

"Vladimir is so big and so strong. He is so intelligent. And he is still so young. It's absolutely incredible. He and his brother seem like stars from another planet," raved the top-flight trainer. Shields watched ringside as Vladimir defended his WBO title against Ray Mercer in June in Atlantic City, N.J.

Soccer

• Dynamo Kyiv's 2-1 loss to Italian soccer powerhouse Juventus on the final night of first-round Champions League play eliminated the Ukrainian team from the Union of European Football Association's (UEFA) championship tournament.

The UEFA Champions League is considered the most prestigious club competition of top European teams. Each national association's domestic champion earns a spot to compete for the overall club championship of Europe. The number of clubs that can be entered by a national association and their entry point in the competition depends on the association's position in UEFA's ranking list.

Dynamo went into the Juventus match on November 13 with two wins, two losses and one draw, needing a win to put the club through to the next round. Instead, the Ukrainians finished third in the four-team group and did not qualify to go on.

Ice hockey

Ukrainian National Hockey League veteran Dave Andreychuk scored his 250th career power-play goal to beat Phil Esposito's NHL record during a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks in Tampa, Fla., on November 15. The Tampa Bay Lightning captain has 599 goals over all, one short of becoming the 14th player to reach the 600 mark.

Chess

• Twelve-year-old Ukrainian Serhiy Karjakin became the youngest person to achieve the rank of grand master during the Sudak Tournament in Ukraine on August 2-12, The New York Times reported on September 15. Karjakin was 12 years and exactly 7 months old when he attained the rank. Before Karjakin, the youngest grand master was Bu Xiangzhi of China at age 13 years, 10 months and 13 days. Fellow Ukrainian and International Chess Federation (FIDE) world champion Ruslan Ponomaryov became a grand master when he was 14 years and 17 days old, while world-renowned grand master Bobby Fischer accomplished the feat when he was 15 years, 6 months and 1 day old.

The youngster, Karjakin, was also one of Ponomaryov's official trainers during the all-Ukrainian FIDE championship between Ponomaryov and Vasyl Ivanchuk of Lviv on January 23 in Moscow. Ponomaryov went on to beat Ivanchuk, becoming the youngest player ever - and the first Ukrainian - to win the world championship.

Track and field

• Ukrainian Olena Krasovska (team Europe) took fourth place in the women's 100-meter hurdle event on September 21 at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ninth World Cup on September 20-21 in Madrid, finishing in 13.07 seconds. Gail Devers of the United States took first place with a time of 12.65, while Bridgete Foster of Jamaica (team Americas) took second place with a time of 12.82. Spaniard Glory Alozie's time of 12.95 gave her third place.

In the women's shot put Irina Korzhanenko of Russia threw 66 feet, 3 1/4 inches to beat out Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba (team Americas) who threw 62-9 1/2. Astrid Kumbernuss of Germany threw 62-8 1/2 for third place, while Ukrainian Vita Pavlysh (team Europe) threw 62-6 1/2 for fourth place.

On the men's side, Ukrainian Yurii Bilonoh took the No. 5 spot in the men's shot put with a throw of 65-2 3/4. Adam Nelson of the United States took first place with a throw of 68-3. He was followed by Justin Anlezark of Austria (team Oceana), who threw 68-1 3/4, and Ralph Bartels of Germany, who took third place with a throw of 67-9 3/4.

Participating athletes at the IAAF's World Cup are grouped into regional teams in order to "increase solidarity among athletes around the world, and to strengthen the ties of friendship between them," as well as to "stimulate the development of athletics in the various continents of the world, especially those less technically developed, while guaranteeing that athletes from those countries get their chance to compete," the IAAF website explained.

• At the 18th IAAF Grand Prix in Paris on September 14, Andriy Skvaruk of Ukraine threw 250 feet, 2 inches for seventh place in the men's hammer throw. He was followed by teammate Oleksander Krykun, who threw 249-3 for eighth place. Koji Murofushi of Japan took first place, with a throw of 266-2. Adrian Annus of Hungary threw 262-6 for second place while Balazs Kiss of Hungary threw 261-7 for the third spot.

In the men's shot put, American Adam Nelson threw 70-1/4 feet to take first place. Yurii Bilonoh of Ukraine threw 68-1/2 for second place, and Milan Haborak of Slovakia threw 66-11 1/4 for third place.

In the women's 100-meter hurdles Olena Krasovska of Ukraine finished in 13.34 seconds to take the eighth spot. Gail Devers of the United States took first in 12.51, while Bridgette Foster of Jamaica took second place, finishing in 12.62. American Anjanette Kirkland took the third spot, also with a time of 12.62.

• Ukrainian Zhanna Pintusevich-Block took second place at the Yokohama Super track and field competition in Yokohama, Japan, on September 16 in the women's 200-meter sprint with a time of 23.32 seconds. She finished behind Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka, who finished in 22.91, but ahead of Italy's Manuela Levorato, who took third with a time of 23.51.

In the women's shot put Ukrainian Vita Pavlysh took the top spot with a throw of 62 feet, 7 1/4 inches. Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus took second place with a throw of 58-2, and Chinatsu Mori of Japan took third place with a throw of 54-2 1/2.

Andriy Skvaruk of Ukraine took fifth place in the men's hammer throw with a distance of 240 feet 1 inch. Hungarians Balazs Kiss and Tibor Gecsek of Hungary took first and second places, respectively. Kiss's throw of 265-0 and Gecsek's throw of 250-4 beat Koji Murofushi of Japan, whose throw of 246-10 earned him third place.

Figure skating

• The Ukrainian ice dance team of Olena Hrushyna and Ruslan Honcharov took the gold medal at the 2002 Master Card Skate Canada International in Quebec City, on October 31-November 3. They finished ahead of Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, who took second place, and Svetlana Kulikova and Arseni Markov of Russia, who won third place.

In the pairs competition Ukrainians Tetiana Chuvayeva and Dmytro Palamarchuk finished in ninth place. Russia's Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin took the top spot while China's Qing Pang and Jian Tong finished in second place. Canadians Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto took third place.

In the women's competition Sasha Cohen, who participated last year in a charity ice show benefiting the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund with former Ukrainian Olympian Viktor Petrenko, took first place. Ms. Cohen's mother is Ukrainian. Japan's Fumie Suguri captured second place, while Russia's Viktoria Volchkova took third.

• Only two weeks later Cohen added another victory to her resume by taking the Lalique Trophy in Paris on November 16. Ukrainian Elena Liashenko came in fourth place, just missing bronze medalist Alisa Drei of Finland, while Japan's Yoshie Onda took the silver medal.

Also at the Lalique competition, the Ukrainian ice dance team of Hrushyna and Honcharov, for the second time in two weeks, took first place in the ice dance competition, beating the French team of Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States took third place in the event.

Ukrainians Tetiana Chuvayeva and Dmytro Palamarchuk took another ninth place finish. Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia finished first in the pairs event, while the French couple of Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis took second place. China's Qing Pang and Jian Tong took the third spot.

Swimming

• Ukrainian Yana Klochkova took four gold medals and two bronze at the FINA Swimming World Cup 2002 in Rio de Janeiro on November 17. In the 400-meter freestyle Klochkova was beaten by American Rachel Komisarz, who finished in 4 minutes and 7.66 seconds to take the gold medal. China's Hua Chen also beat Klochkova with a time of 4:08.65. The 19-year-old Klochkova finished in 4:10.53, earning the bronze medal.

In the 800-meter freestyle Klochkova's time of 8:33.73 avenged her earlier loss to Chen and Komisarz and gave her the gold medal. Chen finished in 8:36.38 to take the silver, and Komisarz finished in 8:38.12, good enough for the bronze.

In the 200-meter backstroke Klochkova again took a bronze medal with a time of 2:11.23. She finished behind silver medalist Pamela Hanson of the United States, 2:09.64, and gold medalist Charlene Wittstock of South Africa, 2:08.98.

Klochkova captured another gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly by only .34 seconds, beating South Africa's Amanda Loots, who took the silver medal with a time of 2:09.38. Komisarz's time of 2:11.11 was not far behind, but good enough only for the bronze medal.

Klochkova's third gold medal came in the 200-meter individual medley. Her time of 2:11.23 beat silver medalist Amanda Beard of the United States, who finished in 2:12.44. Beard's teammate Rose Gabrielle took the bronze medal with a time of 2:13.63.

Klochkova rounded out her World Cup performance with a gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley by finishing the event in 4:36.94. She beat Argentina's Georgina Bardach, whose time of 4:38.49 gave her the silver medal, and Brazil's Joanna Maranhao, whose time of 4:42.27 gave her the bronze.

Climbing

• Ukrainians took a gold and silver medal at the seventh X (Extreme) Games, held in Philadelphia on August 17. Maxim Stenkovy took the gold medal in the men's speed climbing competition, ascending the route in a new world record time of 9.71 seconds. Alexandre Pechekhonov took the silver medal, and Serguei Sinitsyn took the bronze.

In the women's speed climbing competition, Ukrainian Olha Zakharova took the silver medal behind Tori Allen. Etti Hendrawati took the bronze medal, while Ukrainian Elena Repko took fourth place in the event.

Baseball

The September 28 issue of The Star Tribune of Minnesota carried an article on Ukrainian Canadian Corey Koskie, who currently plays for Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The 29-year-old Koskie, born in Anola, Manitoba, began his Major League career in 1998 and holds a career batting average of .284, according to Major League Baseball's official website. During the 2001 season the third baseman led Minnesota in runs (100), runs batted in (103), total bases (274), walks (68) and slugging percentage (.488). He placed second among his teammates in hits (155), doubles (37), home runs (26) and stolen bases (27). Koskie, in fact, became the first third baseman in American League history to record at least 100 runs, 25 homers, 100 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in a single season.

Rowing

Yevhenia Andreyeva and Natalia Ryzhkova of Ukraine took fourth place in the women's heavyweight coxless pairs event at the 2002 FISA World Rowing Championships in Seville, Spain, on September 15-22 with a time of 7 minutes, 2.62 seconds. Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu of Romania won first place with a time of 6:53.80. The second-place team of Jacqueline Cook and Karen Clark of Canada finished in 6:57.08, and the third-place Belarusian team of Yuliya Bichnyk and Natallia Helakh finished in 6:59.21.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 24, 2002, No. 47, Vol. LXX

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