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Soccer

• Zorya Luhansk tied 1-1 with Braga of Portugal on August 9 at home and tied 2-2 in the second-leg match on August 16 in Braga, Portugal, as part of the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. Zorya advanced to the play-off round against RB Leipzig on August 23 and 30. FC Mariupol won 2-1 on August 2 and tied 1-1 on July 26 in its qualifier against Djurgarden of Sweden and Mariupol advanced to the play-off round against Bordeaux after winning 3-2 on aggregate goals. Mariupol was eliminated after it lost 1-3 against Bordeaux on August 9 in the first-leg match in Odesa and lost 1-2 on August 16 in Bordeaux, France. Vorskla Poltava secured its spot in the group stage based on its performance in the Ukrainian Premier League, with the UEFA group stage drawing to be held on August 31 and matches to begin on September 20. 

• Ukraine’s Under-19 team qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup after the team finished in first place in Group B as part of the UEFA U-19 Championships group stage with seven points after three matches played.

Community Chronicle

UOC-U.S.A. celebrates its centennial with liturgy and banquet

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SOUTH BOUND BROOK/SOMERSET, N.J. – More than 500 people, including more than 100 clergy members, celebrated the centennial of the founding of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. on July 28 with a hierarchical divine liturgy led by Metropolitan Yurij of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. The feast day on July 28, according to the Julian calendar, is dedicated to Grand Prince Volodymyr the Great, who is credited with baptizing Ukraine into Christianity in 988. A procession, led by a cross-bearer who was joined by participants carrying church banners and flags of various church organizations, began the centennial celebrations as participants gathered to celebrate the centennial divine liturgy. From the steps of the Ukrainian Cultural Center, after snaking their way around the St. Sophia Seminary building, participants walked along Easton Avenue with the aid of local police who closed off a section of the road for the procession.

Community Chronicle

Hundreds celebrate UOC of the U.S.A. at centennial concert

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SOMERSET, N.J. – The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. (UOC-U.S.A.) kicked off its centennial celebrations with a concert on Friday, July 27, at the Ukrainian Cultural Center located on the grounds of the Metropolia Center of the UOC-U.S.A. 

Emcee Natalia Honcharenko invited Metropolitan Antony to the stage as he greeted the more than 400 members of the audience, as well as the performers and organizers.  

“As the Church marks the 1,030th anniversary of the baptism of Ukraine and the centennial of the founding of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., God’s blessings and joy is expressed through song, dance and instruments, which have served the Ukrainian people during many difficult times in its history. Patriarch Mstyslav… had faith in an independent Ukraine when many did not,” Metropolitan Antony said, “…and like the phoenix from the ashes, Ukraine has risen, its people have united and it will survive.” 

The metropolitan noted that, while attending the rehearsal, he was moved to tears, and he assured that the evening’s program would be enjoyed by all. “These performers are just a sampling of the talents of the Ukrainian nation and its people,” he added. The concert’s first half featured religious-themed selections sung by the more than 40-voice-strong Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, under the direction of conductor Vasyl Hrechynsky.

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Biathlon

• Yulia Dzhima won bronze in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (22:01.0 seconds) and finished in fifth place in the women’s 10-kilometer sprint (31:24.2 seconds) at the IBU World Cup in Holmenkollen, Norway, on March 15-18. Ukraine’s women’s 4×6-kilometer relay team (Anastasiya Merkushyna, Vita Semerenko, Valj Semerenko and Dzhima) finished in eighth place (1:13:34 seconds).  

• Anna Kryvonos won silver in the junior women’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit (44:40.8 seconds) at the Junior World Championships in Otepaa, Estonia, on February 26 through March 4. Evgeniy Ivchenko finished in ninth place (39:27.8 seconds) in the boys’ 12.5-kilometer individual race. Ukraine’s junior men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay team (Ruslan Bryhadyr, Serhiy Telen, Vladislav Koshovets and Bogdan Tsymbal) finished in seventh place (1:30:27.0 seconds) and Kristina Dmytrenko finished in sixth place in the girls’ six-kilometer sprint (20:18.0 seconds) and in ninth place (25:56.5 seconds) in the girls’ 7.5-kilometer pursuit.

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Boxing

• Light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk (15-0, 12 KO) won by unanimous decision (117-111, 116-112, 118-110) against Mehdi Amar (35-6-2, 16 KO) of France on March 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Gvozdyk won the interim light heavyweight WBC title and is set to fight the winner of the WBC 175-pound championship fight between Adonis Stevenson (29-1, 24 KO) of Canada and Badou Jack (22-1-2, 13 KO) of Sweden in Montreal on May 19. • Light heavyweight Sergey Demchenko (18-12-1, 12 KO) lost by unanimous decision after 12 rounds against Dominic Boesel (27-1, 10 KO) of Germany on March 3 in Weissenfels, Germany. Boesel won the EBU European title. 

• Cruiserweight Dmytro Kucher (24-2-1, 18 KO) lost by unanimous decision after 12 rounds against Kevin Larena (20-1, 9 KO) of South Africa on March 3 at the Emperor’s Palace Casino in Kempton Park, South Africa. Larena won the IBO cruiserweight world title. 

• Flyweight Artem Dalakian (16-0, 11 KO) won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds against Brian Viloria (38-6, 22 KO) of the U.S.A. at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on February 24.

Sports

Savchenko wins gold for Germany

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Ukraine-born skater Olena (Aljona) Savchenko and French skater Bruno Massot won gold in the pairs free skate event at the Olympic Games in PyeongChang. The duo scored 159.31 points, setting a world record. Savchenko’s partnership with Massot began in March 2014. Savchenko and Massot have won the German Figure Skating Championships in 2016 and 2018. Born in Obukhiv, near Kyiv, she competed for Ukraine since her early career achievements at junior world competitions beginning in 1998 until the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Sports

Svitolina eliminated in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. – At the 2018 Australian Open in Melbourne on January 15-28, Elina Svitolina lost 4-6, 0-6 against Elise Mertens of Belgium in the quarterfinal. Along the way, Svitolina won 6-3, 6-0 against Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic in the fourth round, won 6-2, 6-2 against Marta Kostyuk in the third round, won 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the second round, and won 6-3, 6-2 against Ivana Jorovic of Serbia in the first round. Kostyuk, 15, won the first-round qualifier of the Australian Open after winning 6-2, 6-2 against Shuai Peng of China (ranked No. 27). In the second round, Kostyuk won 6-3, 7-5 against Olivia Rogowska of Australia.

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This is the conclusion of the final Sportsline update for 2017. This is the second part of a two-part series, prepared by Matthew Dubas. 

Marathon

• Ten Ukrainian servicemen who were wounded in the ATO area of eastern Ukraine and now undergo rehabilitative treatment in the United States ran a 10-kilometer race and a marathon at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington on October 22. Ukraine’s team won 10 medals and earned a congratulatory message from President Petro Poroshenko. Established in 1976, the MCM is currently the fourth largest marathon in the U.S. and the ninth largest in the world. More than 30,000 representatives from more than 50 countries officially participate.

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This is part one of the final Sportsline update of 2017. The items were prepared by Matthew Dubas. Part two will follow in an upcoming issue. Soccer

• Ukraine’s men’s national team won 2-1 against Slovakia in an international friendly match on November 10 at Arena Lviv. Slovakia opened the scoring in the 10th minute, and Andriy Yarmolenko equalized for Ukraine in the 39th minute with a near shot.