SPORTSLINE (05/15/05)

SPORTSLINE

Caving

A team of Ukrainian spelunkers (cave explorers) set a new record for the deepest descent into a cave. The nine-strong group traveled 2,080 meters (6,822 feet) underground, passing the elusive 2,000-meter mark while in a cavern at Krubera, the world's deepest known cave located in Georgia's Caucus Mountains.

The May 2005 issue of National Geographic features a story on the team and their expedition. The team, a part of the Ukrainian Speleological Association's Call of the Abyss project, was sponsored by the National Geographic Society, and was part of a four-year project that made breaking the 2,000-meter mark its goal.

By blasting open tight passages, cavers revealed long corridors descending deeper and deeper in Krubera, a cave set in Georgia's breakaway, mountainous region of Abkhazia.

"Even now, we don't know whether we've reached the limit - or if it will go on. We're pretty sure we'll eventually go even lower," said Alexander Klimchouk, the veteran caver who organized the mission, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).

The expedition included a support team of 56 cavers and six members of a discovery team that had to negotiate vertical drops and bursts of freezing water. During the descent, which took place between August and September 2004, the team was also forced to blast rubble from tight passages so that they could move deeper into the cave.

In one instance, a flooded passage blocked the team's progress. But colleagues Denis Kurta and Dmitry Fedotov squeezed through a narrow, 100-meter-long passage, which successfully bypassed the flooded area.

In October, a team of nine cavers was sent back to Krubera to pick up where the previous group left off. They examined unexplored leads in the cave's lowest section until they broke through to a new series of passages and vertical pits. On October 19, 2004, team leader Yuri Kasjan dropped down to a lower chasm and discovered from his altimeter that he had passed 2,000 meters.

More pits and passages brought the explorers to a sandy chamber at 2,080 meters (6,822 feet), the deepest to date any caver has ventured below ground, according to the BBC.

The team christened the chamber Game Over. But the group now wants to return to the cave to see whether it leads even deeper, the BBC reported.

Ice hockey

Ukraine was ousted from the qualification round of the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship, finishing in sixth place in its group of six teams that included Latvia, as well as perennial powerhouses Sweden, Canada, Finland and the United States.

Ukraine finished the tournament with one point, which it earned after tying the United States 1-1. Starting goaltender Konstyantyn Simchuk was credited with a stellar performance in keeping the game tight.

Ukraine lost both of its other games: 3-0 to Latvia and 2-1 to Canada, though it took a late third-period goal on the power play for Canada to beat Ukraine.

Austria hosted the 16-team tournament in the towns of Vienna and Innsbruck.

Ice skating

Ukrainians Elena Hrushina and Ruslan Honcharov took third place in the ice dancing competition at the 2005 World Figure Skating Championships held in Moscow on March 14-20. The pair earned a score of 213.95, while Russia's Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov took first place with a score of 227.81. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States took third place with a score of 221.26. The Ukrainian pair of Yulia Holovina and Oleh Voiko took 21st place with a score of 213.95.

In the pairs figure skating competition, Ukraine's Tatiana Volozhar and Stanislav Morozov took 10th place with a score of 156.38 and Russia's Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin took first place with a score of 198.49. Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia took second place with a score of 188.21, while Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China took third place with a score of 180.22.

In the woman's competition, Ukraine's Elena Liashenko took 10th place with a score of 174.18, while Ukrainian American Sasha Cohen took second place with a score of 214.39. Russia's Irina Slutskaya took first place with a score of 222.71, and Italy's Carolina Kostner took third place with a score of 200.56.

Biathlon

Ukraine's Andrii Deryzemlia took second place in the men's 12.5-kilometer pursuit at a World Cup event in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, on March 15-19. Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen finished first, while Poland's Tomasz Sikora took third place. Ukrainians Oleksander Bilanenko, Viacheslav Derkach and Ruslan Lysenko came in at 16th, 30th and 46th, respectively.

Deryzemlia of Ukraine took 10th place in the men's 10-kilometer sprint, while Germany's Sven Fischer took first place. Oleg Ryzhenkov of Belarus took second place, and Norway's Halvard Hanevold took third place. Ukrainians Derkach, Bilanenko and Lysenko came in at 18th, 20th and 37th, respectively.

Ukraine's team of Derkach, Deryzemlia, Nina Lemesh and Oksana Khvostenko took seventh place in the mixed 4x6-kilometer relay, while the team from Russia took first place. Russia's No. 2 team took second place in the race, while Germany took third place.

Khvostenko of Ukraine took 15th place in the women's 12.5-kilometer mass start, while Russia's Olga Zaitseva took first place. Germany's Kati Wilhelm took second place, and Russia's Anna Bogaliy took third place.

Boxing

Volodymyr Klitschko knocked out Eliseo Castillo in the fourth round of their bout in Dortmund, Germany, on April 23. The win came by way of technical knockout and was the first loss for the Cuban Castillo. Klitschko (44-3) dropped Castillo with a jarring straight right with nine seconds left in the round, The New York Times reported. Castillo rose to his feet, but the referee stopped the fight.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr's brother, Vitalii Klitschko, the World Boxing Council title-holder, recently underwent back surgery and is not scheduled to fight sooner than September of this year.

Soccer

Dema Kovalenko, the Ukrainian soccer star who's played the past seven seasons in the U.S.-based Major Soccer League, made his season debut with D.C. United after missing five MLS games as well as four Champions' Cup matches because of a broken foot.

"It was good for me to get a few minutes," Kovalenko said, according to the Washington Post. "I was excited, the fans were excited and it was nice to be able to help the guys again."

Kovalenko, a Ukrainian-born midfielder, didn't expect to be available until May 21. But the bone on the outside of his right foot made steady improvement and he was able to rejoin United for full training sessions in recent weeks.

"I don't think Dema is ready for 90 minutes right now," United Coach Peter Nowak told the Washington Post. "He's still coming back and it was nice to give him some minutes, but it's going to be another week to 10 days for him to get his fitness back. ... He always competes, he always has his heart out there. I'm pretty happy with his progress."

Kovalenko, 27, had started almost every game in which he appeared since becoming a regular for Chicago in 2000. Last year, in his second season with United, he finished second on the team in assists with 10 and evolved into a rambunctious left-side midfielder after spending most of his time in Washington as a defensive midfielder. His aggressive play helped United win its fourth title in MLS's nine-year history.

During this past offseason, however, Kovalenko broke his foot while jogging in Kyiv and underwent surgery upon his return to the United States.

With the team's ample depth in midfield, Kovalenko acknowledged that it would be difficult for him to reclaim a starting job, whether it's on the left side or in a disruptive central role.

"It doesn't matter if I played last year or if I played for five years," Kovalenko said. "Any player who comes in, whether he's been hurt or is a new player, it's a challenge to prove yourself. You have to be better than the guys playing right now. I think it's good for everyone because there's always someone there to push the starters. Time will show what's going to happen. I'm just going to work hard like I always do and hopefully I'll get the time."

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