Sports

Svitolina wins fourth WTA title in 2017

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Elina Svitolina returned to the WTA’s Top 10 and climbed to the top of the Porsche Race to Singapore leaderboard as a result of winning her eighth career title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open) on May 21. In the tournament final she finally defeated former world No. 2 Simona Halep of Romania, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in Rome. “Every single day, everyone is working very hard,” Svitolina said in a post-match WTA interview of winning her second Premier 5 title. “They are waiting for these kind of moments when there is a right moment and the right day.

Sports

Klitschko falls to Joshua in epic slugfest

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Heading into the 12-round heavyweight contest on April 19 with the IBF, IBO and WBA world titles on the line, 27-year-old British boxer Anthony Joshua was the overwhelming favorite with the bookmakers because of his undeniable talent and surrounding hype. His opponent, Wladimir Klitschko, should not have been underestimated while on a mission to reclaim two title belts he held for four-plus years. Klitschko may be 41, but with those years comes great experience and smart game plans to frustrate opponents. In perhaps the biggest heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis knocked out Mike Tyson to retain the world title in 2002, Joshua, the young British star, and Ukraine’s Klitschko, the regal former longtime world champion and future Hall of Famer, collided in a once-in-a-generation showdown. The fight took place at sold-out Wembley Stadium in London, England, with 90,000 sports fans in attendance.

Sports

Ukrainians highlight first boxing card at MGM National Harbor

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It was an unprecedented North American sporting event when the inaugural fight card at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., on April 8 featured three professional Ukrainian boxers – Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. The main event had WBO super featherweight (junior lightweight) champion Lomachenko against Jason Sosa of the U.S.A., preceded by light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk versus Yunieski Gonzalez of the U.S.A., and cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk squaring off against Michael Hunter of the U.S.A.

Countless Ukrainian fans and supporters packed the arena, raucously cheering the names of their countrymen during their respective bouts, switching off to loud chants of “U-kra-yi-na” as a change of cheer. All three Ukrainian pugilists were victorious in their fights – a three-fight Ukrainian sweep. Lomachenko disposes of Sosa in ninth round

Frustration is an operative word when describing Lomachenko’s pro boxing career. Frustrated in not getting fights against top opponents, Lomachenko releases his frustration against challengers like Sosa.

Sports

Ukrainian pro hockey update

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How Gretzky became an Oiler 

Wayne Gretzky was named one of “The NHL’s 100,” the top 100 players in the history of the National Hockey League’s 100 years of existence. This is the first in a series featuring the six Ukrainian hockey stars selected to this elite group. On August 9, 1988, the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky, Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley to the Los Angeles Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, millions of dollars and three first-round draft picks. Did you know this was not the first time Gretzky was moved? Gretzky started his professional career with the World Hockey Association’s Indianapolis Racers, not Edmonton.

Sports

Ukrainian peo sports update: tennis

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Svitolina achieves top-10 ranking

The start of a new tennis season and a coaching change could not derail Elina Svitolina’s momentum from last year’s success on the courts. Svitolina’s ambition to build on her achievements in 2016, when she became the first woman since 2010 to beat two top-ranked women in the same year, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber of Germany, led her to spend Christmas away from home. She was seeded sixth at the Brisbane International tournament, the first competition of 2017 and a prelude to the Australian Open. She was the first to arrive in Brisbane – a full week before the tournament’s commencement – wanting to get in lots of practice. The strategy proved beneficial as Svitolina defeated Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, Shelby Rogers of the U.S.A. and No.

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Ukrainian pro hockey update

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Bozak a centerpiece in Toronto

The past off-season saw a lot of changes in the Toronto Maple Leafs line-up with their recent successful drafts creating an influx of several top prospects. Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner, to name three, have the club trending away from league doormats to potential playoff contenders. It also has created a logjam at the center position, where the Leafs suddenly boast four quality centermen. Rookies Matthews and Nylander join veterans Nazem Kadri and Ukrainian Tyler Bozak to form a strong nucleus up the middle of the ice. When both are healthy, Bozak and Kadri have been Toronto’s No.

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Ukrainian sports update: basketball

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Alex Len standing tall in Phoenix

Alex Len averaged a very respectable 12.5 points and 10 rebounds per game for his Phoenix Suns from the All-Star break through the end of the 2015-2016 season. One could easily discount the statistics as a product of a losing team trying to develop a young big man, but that would be a disservice to the player. The truth is that from the All-Star break on, almost half the league’s teams were trying to develop their young players for next year. The other half would be very satisfied if their big men put up the numbers Len posted for the Suns. In a 12-game stretch immediately after the break, Len joined some elite company in posting an average of 17 points, plus 12 rebounds per game, with nine straight 10-plus rebound games (eight of which were double-doubles).

Sports

Ukrainian pro hockey update

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Three Ukrainians selected in first round of 2016 NHL draft

The theme of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft held in Buffalo, N.Y., on June 24-25 was first-round Ukrainian bloodlines. Matthew Tkachuk, son of Keith Tkachuk, Jakob Chychrun, son of Jeff Chychrun, and Kieffer Bellows, son of Brian Bellows, were all selected in the first round – three famous Ukrainian sons drafted in the top 19 selections. Seeing a Ukrainian prospect go in the first round of the NHL draft is becoming an annual tradition. (On a personal note, quite a thrill for this hockey fanatic to be writing about second-generation Ukrainian hockey stars-in-the-making after chronicling the careers of their dads. No way of getting around the fact yours truly has been around the rink a few hundred times in the past few decades.)

Tkachuk goes to preferred Flames

Heading into day No.

Sports

Ukraine in Rio: a Paralympic power

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In the international sports competition arena these days, the United States, Russia, China and Great Britain are almost always atop the leader board. Every four years the above four countries rule the medals tables at the Olympics and Paralympics. The last dozen years have seen one underdog nation turn into a world superpower once the Paralympics begin. Sixth in Athens (2004), fourth at both Beijing (2008) and London (2012), Ukraine went one better in 2016, finishing a remarkable third in the medal table at Rio – a position Ukraine held for most of the competition. Ukraine proudly accumulated 117 total medals, including 41 gold, 37 silver and 39 bronze.

Sports

Ukraine expects strong Paralympics showing

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Ukraine sent a team composed of 155 athletes, its largest ever squad, to the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The Ukrainian team is participating in 14 out of 22 sports. The sports include rowing, sitting volleyball, judo, table tennis, power lifting, swimming, archery, wheelchair fencing, football seven-a-side, road cycling, track cycling, paracanoe and goalball. Ukraine is debuting in paracanoe and goalball. Sports Minister Igor Zhdanov announced Ukrainian Paralympic champions will be rewarded with a bonus of $40,000, silver medalists will get a cash prize of $26,000 and bronze winners will receive $18,000.