SPORTSLINE (10/23/05)

SPORTSLINE

Boxing

Lennox Lewis, the former World Boxing Council champion, traveled to Kyiv last week to attend a boxing tournament in the Ukrainian capital. Lewis, who retired in 2004, on October 14 visited Kyiv's City Hall building, where he met with Vice Mayor Ihor Lysov, the Ukrainian press agency Ukrinform reported the same day.

Lewis said he was happy to have come to Ukraine. He added that he wished to show Ukrainian kids who are practicing boxing that they can become world champions like him or Vitalii Klitschko, Lewis said, according to Ukrinform.

Vice Mayor Lysov, referring to the retired Briton, said the visit to Ukraine by a great boxer would promote boxing in Ukraine.

Speaking with journalists in Kyiv, Lewis said he is involved in charitable activity and devotes much time to his family. He said he has never been interested in politics; however, politics is better than boxing, as nobody hits you on the head, Ukrinform reported.

On Friday night Lewis was supposed to meet with Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko and attend a boxing tournament as a guest of honor, organized by the League of Professional Boxing of Ukraine. Ukrinform reported that Lewis stayed in Ukraine through Sunday.

Soccer

About 100,000 people gathered on Kyiv's Independence Square on October 9 to celebrate the success of Ukraine's national soccer team, Ukrinform reported. Ukraine recently qualified for the first time ever for the World Cup, which is scheduled to take place next year in Germany.

Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine's top scoring threat, and head coach Oleh Blokhin attended the reception and were cheered loudly by the crowd, Ukrinform reported.

The rally included a performance by the band Green Gray and a fireworks display.

After the event, the team's players left for the Kyiv suburb of Koncha Zaspa, where the team trained for an upcoming friendly match with the Japanese national team on October 12.

In that game, Japanese substitute Yoshinobu Minowa took down Ukrainian striker Andriy Vorobey, giving the Ukrainian side a penalty kick in the 89th minute. Andriy Husin scored on the penalty shot to give Ukraine a 1-0 win.

Coach Blokhin said before the game that the "time for experimenting was over" and he would field his strongest possible side in a "serious test against opponents we may face [at the World Cup] in Germany," Japan's Kyodo News Service reported.

Ukraine played the game without two of its key players, Shevchenko and Andriy Voronin.

Earlier, Ukraine had tied Albania 2-2 in a World Cup qualifying game played in Ukraine on October 8. Shevchenko scored early in the game, while Ruslan Rotan scored late for Ukraine to tie the game.

Two goals by Erjon Bogdani in the second half gave Albania a 2-1 lead, but Rotan's goal in the 86th minute off a corner kick preserved the tie for Ukraine, which had already qualified for the 2006 World Cup.

In other soccer news, Shevchenko was voted among the top 11 soccer players in 2004-2005 by FIFPro. According to its website, FIFPro is a worldwide representative soccer organization comprising 40 national players' associations.

The poll of 38,000 soccer players from 40 countries named Brazilian halfback Ronaldinho, who plays for a Spanish team, the world's best footballer. Shevchenko, who is the Ukrainian national team's top striker, plays for the Italian team AC Milan.

Marathon

Ukraine's Mykola Antonenko won the 2005 Baltimore marathon, finishing the race on October 15 in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 40 seconds. Russia's Mikhail Khobotov took second place with a time of 2:17:00, and Mindaugas Pukstas of Lithuania took third place with a time of 2:18:25.

Ilona Barvanova of Ukraine took second place in the women's marathon, finishing the race in 2 hours, 44 minutes and 44 seconds. Russia's Ramilya Burangulova took first place with a time of 2:42:00, and her teammate, Marina Bychkova, took third place with a time of 2:46:07.

Fencing

Ukraine's Oleh Shturbabin and Russia's Alexey Yakimenko tied for third place in the men's saber at the 2005 Fencing World Championships in Leipzig, Germany, on October 8-15. Mihai Covaliu of Romania took first place, while Stanislaw Pozdniakov of Russia took second place.

Ukraine's Vladimir Lukachenko, Vladislav Tretiak and Dmytro Boiko took 17th, 20th and 28th places, respectively.

In the men's team epee competition, the Ukrainian team of Dmytro Chumak, Dmitrii Karuchenko, Maksym Khvorost and Vitalii Osharov took third place. France took first place, while Germany took second place.

In the men's team sabre competition, the Ukrainian team of Boiko, Lukachenko, Shturbabin and Tretiak took fourth place, while Russia took first place. Italy took second place, and France took third place.

In the women's team sabre competition, the Ukrainian team of Olha Kharlan, Olena Khomrova, Daria Nedashkovska and Halyna Pundyk took 11th place, while the United States took first place. Russia took second place, and Hungary took third.

In the men's individual epee competition, Khvorost and Karuchenko of Ukraine took 12th and 13th places, respectively. Russia's Pavel Kolobkov took first place, and Fabrice Jeannet of France took second place. Bas Verwijlen of the Netherlands and Claus Moerch of Norway tied for third place.

Yushchenko on sports

During a meeting with sports leaders and ministers on October 12 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko instructed his Cabinet to draw up a draft decree to further develop sports and a sports infrastructure in Ukraine, the Ukrainian press agency Ukrinform reported.

Yushchenko met with Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Viacheslav Kyrylenko; Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yurii Pavlenko; First Deputy Chief of Staff Ivan Vasiunyk and heads of the Ukrainian Football Federation.

During his deliberations, Yushchenko issued instructions to the Cabinet to draw up a draft decree stating support for Ukrainian athletes.

Even the smallest populated place must have a sports field; every city must have a palace of sports and a stadium, the president said, according to Ukrinform.

Earlier that day, Yushchenko met with members of the country's national soccer team, the presidential press service told Ukrinform. The president underscored the role the team's successes are playing in instilling feelings of pride and patriotism in Ukrainian society, Ukrinform reported.

Yushchenko also commented on head coach Oleh Blokhin's great personal contribution to the national team's success in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

During both meetings, Yushchenko spoke about setting up a council for sports under the president. This body must be staffed by outstanding Ukrainian athletes, Yushchenko said, according to Ukrinform.

The president said he supports the initiative by Pavlenko, the family, youth and sports minister, to reform the sports system, in particular, by creating 12 sport bases for training summer and winter Olympic hopefuls.

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