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Table tennis

• Ukraine’s women’s team – Tetiana Bilenko, Margarita Pesotska and Hanna Haponova – won bronze in the team competition at the European Table Tennis Championships on September 25 through October 4 in Yekateringburg, Russia. Ukraine was in Group D with Sweden, the Netherlands and Portugal. • Ukraine table tennis club Trade Aliiance Kyiv lost 0-3 against Istres Tennis de Table of France on November 27 during the fourth stage of the European Table Tennis Union tournament. Tennis

• Alexandr Dolgopolov and Elina Svitolina will represent Ukraine in the Gold Group at the 28th Hopman Cup 2016 at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia, on January 3-9, 2016. Also in Group B are Australia (Gold), the United States and the Czech Republic.

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Soccer

• Ukraine has drawn Group C with Germany, Northern Ireland and Poland for the UEFA Euro 2016 in France. The announcement came on December 12 during the draw in Paris. Ukraine’s opener is against Germany on June 12, followed by Northern Ireland on June 16 and Poland on June 21. Reaction from Ukraine’s head coach, Mykhailo Fomenko, said the opening match against Germany will set the tone for the remainder of the tournament, but remains hopeful. • In the UEFA Champions League, Dynamo Kyiv won 1-0 on December 9 against Tel Aviv and won 2-0 against Porto on November 24.

Community Chronicle

Patriarch Filaret visits Washington, meets with Ukrainian community

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WASHINGTON – Nearly 100 Ukrainian Americans attended a meet-and-greet on the morning of November 7 with Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill during his visit to Washington for the Holodomor monument unveiling. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), who spoke during the meeting, welcomed the patriarch to Washington. Noting the author Timothy Snyder’s work “Bloodlands,” Rep. Kaptur noted its revelations about the history of the Holodomor and Ukraine. Eugene Czolij, president of the Ukrainian World Congress, recalled the poem “Footprints,” and the parallels between Ukraine’s struggle to be free. The patriarch, Mr. Czolij noted, is the moral authority of Ukraine, just as Brussels has become the political center for the Western world that includes Ukraine.

Sports

Ukraine advances to Euro 2016 in France after win over Slovenia

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Ukraine’s men’s national team advanced to the Euro 2016 European soccer championship after a 1-1 draw with Slovenia on November 17 in Maribor. Slovenia opened the scoring in the 11th minute by Bostjan Cesar and Andriy Yarmolenko equalized for Ukraine in extra time of the second half (90 +7). Ukraine won 2-0 against Slovenia on November 14 in Lviv in the first-leg match of the playoff stage. Yarmolenko opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, and Yevhen Seleznyov scored in the 54th minute. After the two matches, Ukraine led 3-1 on aggregate goals.

Sports

Ukraine’s soccer clubs perform in European competitions

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Ukraine’s soccer clubs – specifically Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Champions League, and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Europa League – continue to climb up the standings. Shkahtar Donetsk, in Group A, is in third place with three points after four matches played. Shakhtar won 3-0 against Malmo (Sweden) on November 3; lost 0-1 in its first-leg match against Malmo on October 21; lost 0-3 against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on September 30; and lost 0-4 against Real Madrid on September 15. Dynamo Kyiv, in Group G of the Champions League, is also in third place with five points after four matches played.  Dynamo lost 1-2 against Chelsea in its second-leg match on November 4; tied 0-0 with Chelsea on October 20; won 2-0 against Tel Aviv on September 29; and tied 2-2 with Porto on September 16. Shakhtar’s remaining match schedule includes Real Madrid on November 25 and PSG on December 8.

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Weightlifting

• Yevhenii Nykonenko (77 kg) won bronze in European Weightlifting Championships in Landskrona, Sweden, on August 1-8. In the snatch his best was 107 kg and in the clean and jerk his best was 126 kg.  Alina Shevkoplyas (63 kg) won gold in the U-17 division, with 89 kg in the snatch and 106 kg in the clean and jerk. Dmytro Sukhotskyi (56 kg) won gold in the U-17 division after a first-place finish in snatch with a best result of 102 kg; he scored fifth in the clean and jerk with a best of 120 kg. The competition was sponsored by the International Weightlifting Federation. Basketball

• Ukraine finished in last place (sixth) in Group D of the FIBA EuroBasket 2015, finishing with a record of two wins and three losses.

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Boxing

• Cruiserweight Alexander Usik (7-0-0, 7 KO) won by third-round TKO against Johnny Muller (19-4-2, 13 KO) of South Africa for the WBO Intercontinental Title on August 29 at the Sports Palace in Kyiv. Super lightweight Denys Berinchyk (1-0-0, 0 KO) won his first professional bout against Tarik Madni (19-9-1, 1 KO) of Belgium after Madni retired in the fourth round out of six scheduled rounds. Featherweight Oleg Malinovsky (15-0-0, 5 KO) won by unanimous decision after eight rounds against Bahyt Abdurahimov (11-9-0, 5 KO) of Uzbekistan. Super welterweight Alexander Spirko (19-0-0, 11 KO) won by first-round knockout (out of eight scheduled rounds) against Eduards Gerasimovs (6-5-1, 6 KO) of Latvia. Super middleweight Petr Ivanov (4-0-0, 1 KO) won by unanimous decision after six scheduled rounds against Beqa Aduashvili (13-2-0, 6 KO) of Georgia.

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Soccer

• Ukraine tied 0-0 with second-place team Slovakia in the Group C qualifier of the  2016 UEFA European Championship on September 11 in Zlina, Slovakia. Ukraine won 3-1 against Belarus on September 5 at Arena Lviv. Scoring for Ukraine against Belarus were Artem Kravets (seventh minute), Andriy Yarmolenko (30th minute), Yevhen Konoplyanka (40th minute off a penalty shot). Belarus had a lone goal in the 62nd minute by Sergei Kornilenko. Denys Garmash was sent off after a second yellow was shown in extra time (14, 90+2), other Ukraine players who have yellow card issues included Oleksandr Kucher, Yevhen Khacheridi, Ruslan Rotan, while Serhii Sydorchuk, who also has two yellow cards, is on the bench due to injury.

Culture/Arts

U.S. filmmaker set to film “Julia Blue” in Ukraine, seeks sponsors

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Filmmaker Roxy Toporowych has announced an Indiegogo fund-raiser for her project – “a Ukrainian Ethno-Indie Love Story” – titled “Julia Blue.” The lead character, Julia, refuses to speak in Russian. The fund-raising campaign – with a goal of $45,000 – concludes at the end of August. In 18 days, the campaign has raised 15 percent of the goal at just under $7,000. As Ms. Toporowych, a Parma, Ohio, native explained, “I left New York City in September 2014 on a Fulbright scholarship. It was a challenging move, but I chose to battle my nerves and culture shock and push forward.