Soccer
• Shakhtar Donetsk has advanced to the Round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League. The team won 1-0 against Celta Vigo of Spain on February 16 in the first-leg match. Shakhtar plays on February 23 in the second-leg match (played at Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv). A win for Shakhtar advances them to the round of 16 and the draw is to be announced on February 24 in Nyon, France, with matches to begin on March 9 and 16. In Group 8, Shakhtar won 4-2 against Braga on December 8, 2016, and led the group with 18 points, (six wins, and no losses). On November 24 Shakhtar won 6-0 against Konyaspor. Zorya Luhansk lost 0-2 against Manchester United on December 8 in its Group A stage match and lost 0-2 against Fehnerbahce of Turkey on November 24. Zorya finished in last place in Group A after six matches played (0 wins, two draws and four losses) with two points.
• Ukraine’s U-21 men’s team is set for its 2019 UEFA Euro Cup qualifiers. Matches for Group 4 begin on September 1 against Latvia. Ukraine then plays against Andorra on September 5, against the Netherlands on October 10, against England on October 11, against Scotland on November 14. In the second-leg matches, Ukraine will face the aforementioned teams in 2018, beginning on March 27 and ending on October 16.
• Ukraine’s U-19 men’s team has drawn Group 1 in the elite round of the UEFA U-19 Championship, after the draw was made in Nyon, France, on December 13, 2016. Also in Group 1 are the Netherlands (group host), Greece and Finland. There are seven other groups in the lead-up to the final stage that is hosted by Georgia on July 2-15, with Ukraine’s Group 1 matches played on March 23-28. In the qualifying round, Ukraine finished in second place with six points in Group 13 (Turkey, Iceland and Latvia).
• Ukraine’s Under-16 boys team won third place in the Aegean Sea Cup that was held in Cyprus on January 1-21. Ukraine won 3-0 against Slovakia in the third-place match. Ukraine lost 0-1 against Greece on January 16 and won 4-1 against Montenegro on January 17. In the final, Greece won 5-4 against Turkey.
• Ukraine’s U-17 men’s team has drawn Group 6 in the elite round with Sweden, France and Austria as part of the UEFA U-17 Championship. Following the draw on December 13, 2016, in Nyon, France, matches are scheduled to take place in Austria on March 23-28. Ukraine finished in third place with two points in Group 13 with Turkey, Norway and Lithuania. The final stage is to be hosted by Croatia on May 3-19.
• Ukraine’s U-19 women’s team has drawn Group 4 (Finland, Ireland, Scotland) as part of the elite round of the UEFA U-19 Championship, with the draw held in Nyon, France, on November 11. Matches will be played on April 4-9, with the final stage of the tournament held in Northern Ireland on August 8-20.
• Ukraine’s men’s national team is ranked in 30th place by FIFA, as of February 9. Among UEFA member countries, Ukraine is ranked in 19th place as of February 9. Ukraine’s women’s team is ranked in 26th place by FIFA. Ukraine’s men’s team begins its qualifying round of play for the FIFA World Cup 2018 with matches against Croatia (March 24), Finland (June 11), Turkey (September 2), Kosovo (October 6), and once again against Croatia (October 9).
• Russian soccer fans of England’s Manchester United club had their tickets refunded for a December 8, 2016, UEFA Europa League match against Zorya Luhansk. The decision was made by the authorities of the host country due to the “current political situation and potential problems with the safety of the fans.”
• In the UEFA Champions League, Dynamo Kyiv won 4-0 against Besiktas on December 6, 2016. Dynamo lost 0-1 against Portuguese club Benefica on November 1. Dynamo finished in last place (five points) in Group B after six matches played. Napoli topped the group with 11 points, followed by Benefica with eight points, and Besiktas with seven points. In its last two matches before being eliminated, Dynamo tied 0-0 against Napoli on November 23 and won 6-0 against Besiktas on December 6.
• In the UEFA Youth League, Dynamo Kyiv won 3-1 against Besiktas on December 6, 2016. Dynamo won 2-0 against Napoli on November 23 and won 2-1 against Portuguese club Benefica on November 1 in Seixal, Portugal. Dynamo topped Group B with 16 points after five matches played. Dynamo advances to the round of 16 that begins on February 21-22. The final match is to be hosted on April 21-24 in Nyon, France, at Colovray Stadium.
• Roman Yaremchuk, a forward for FC Oleksandriya, scored the fastest goal in Ukrainian Premier League history on November 5, 2016, against Vorskla Poltava. Yaremchuk stripped the ball off a defender after a pass by the forward at the kickoff, and the ball was in the net in less than eight seconds.
• Oleksandr Shovkovksyi, a goalkeeper for Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian National Team, announced that he would not be renewing his contract in a nod to retirement. “I’ll be 42 in January. I’ll be too old for a football player. I’m not ready to go all to compete with the young and prove something,” he said in an interview with Radio Aristocrats.
• Ukraine won 1-0 against Finland on November 12, 2016, at Chonomorets Stadium in Odesa as part of the 2018 World Cup qualifying round. Artem Kravets scored the lone goal in the 25th minute off a pass by Yevhen Konoplyanka. Ukraine is in second place in Group I, with eight points after four matches played (two wins and two losses). Croatia leads the group with 10 points, followed by Iceland (seven), Turkey (five), Finland (one) and Kosovo (one). Matches resume in 2017, with Ukraine facing Croatia on March 24, Finland on June 11, Turkey on September 2, Iceland on September 5, Kosovo on October 6, and Croatia on October 9.
Futsal
• Ukraine will host Group 3 in the main round of the UEFA Euro Championship on April 3-17. Also in the group are Croatia, Belgium and Montenegro. Twenty-one teams in seven groups will play, with the top seven teams joining host Slovenia in the play-off stage of the tournament in September. The final stage is to be played on January 3 through February 10, 2018, with 12 teams in four groups, with the top-two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals.
Weightlifting
• Maria Tymoshchuk won a silver medal at the IWF Youth World Weightlifting Championships in Penang, Malaysia, on October 23, 2016. Tymoshchuk won in the 58 kg division with a combined weight of 182 kg (82 kg in the snatch and 100-kg in the clean and jerk). Ukraine was represented by seven weightlifters.
Tennis
• Elina Svitolina won 6-3, 6-2 against Shuai Peng of China at the Taian Open in Taipei City, Taiwan on January 30-February 5. In the semifinal, Svitolina won 6-3, 6-2 against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, and won 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4) in the quarterfinal against Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
• In the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on January 16-29, Elina Svitolina won 6-0, 6-2 against Halyna Voskoboev of Kazakhstan. Illya Marchenko lost against No. 1 seed Andy Murray 5-7, 6-7(5), 2-6. Lesia Tsurenko won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 against Angelique Kerber of Germany. In the junior women’s division, Marta Kostyuk won 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 against Rebeka Masarova (ranked No. 1) in the final. Kostyuk won 6-3, 6-3 against Mahak Jain of India in the first round; won in the second round 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 against Naho Sato of Japan; won 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 against Jodie Anna Burrage of Great Britain; won the quarterfinal 6-3, 6-1 against En Shuo Liang of Taipei; and won the semifinal 6-1, 7-5 against Elena Rybakina of Russia.
• At the Apia International in Sydney on January 9-14, Illya Marchenko lost 3-6, 3-6 against Christopher O’Connell of Australia in the first qualifying round.
• Lesia Tsurenko lost in a walkover by Monica Niculescu of Romania in the semifinal of the Hobart Open in Australia. Tsurenko won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Shelby Rogers of the U.S.A. in the quarterfinal, won 6-4, 6-4 against Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the round of 16, and won 6-2, 6-3 against Sivlia Soler-Espinosa of Spain in the round of 32.
• Elina Svitolina lost 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinal against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic at the Brisbane International tournament in Brisbane, Australia. Svitolina won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinal against Angelique Kerber of Germany In the first round, Svitolina won 6-3, 6-3 against Monica Puig of Puerto Rico; she won 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 against Shelby Rodgers of the U.S.A. in the second round. In doubles, Svitolina and Sara Errani lost 6-1, 4-6, 5-10 against Samantha Stosur and Shuai Zhang, and Kateryna Bondarenko and Yulia Putintseva lost 2-6, 0-6 against Irina-Camelia Begu and Daria Kasatkina. In men’s singles, Alexandr Dolgopolov lost 3-6, 3-6 in the round of 32 against Rafael Nadal.
• Illya Marchenko lost 6-7(5), 6-7 against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the round of 32 at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar, on January 2-7.
• Olga Savchuk and Raluca Olaru of Romania won in the semifinal by walkover against Raquel Atawo and Yifan Xu of China, but lost 1-6, 5-7 against Andrea Hlavackova and Shuai Peng of China at the Shenzhen Open tennis tournament on January 1-7. Savchuk-Olaru won 2-6, 7-6(5), 14-12 against Chen Liang and Jing-Jing Lu of China in the quarterfinal and won 6-2, 6-2 against Ying-Ying Duan and Qiang Wang of China in the first round.
• Illya Marchenko (ranked 72nd by ATP) lost in the round of 16 against Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-7(3), 4-6 at the Peugeot Slovak Open in Bratislava on November 7-13, 2016. Serhiy Stakhovsky (ranked 109th) lost 4-6, 6-7 (4) in the semifinal against Norbert Gombs of Slovakia.
• Illya Marchenko lost 1-6, 1-6 in the round of 64 against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany at the BNP Paribas Masters tournament in Paris on October 31 through November 6, 2016.
• Serhiy Stakhovsky lost 7-5, 4-6, 4-6 in the round of 32 against Yannick Hanfmann of Germany at the Bauer Water Technology Cup in Eckental, Germany, on October 31 through November 6, 2016.
• Elina Svitolina lost 4-6, 2-6 against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the final of the WTA tournament in Zhuhai, China, on November 1, 2016.
Fencing
• Ukraine’s women’s epee team finished fourth place at the World Cup competition in Legnano, Italy, on February 10-12. Ukraine earned 36 points after losing to South Korea 34-45 in the third-place match. Dzhoan Feybi Bezhura tied with Sarra Besbes of Tunisia (20 points) for third place in the women’s individual epee event.
• Ukraine’s junior women’s epee team won first place (64 points) at the Junior World Cup team event in Epoo, Finland, on February 5.
• Ukraine’s women’s epee team (Dzhoan Feybi Bezhura, Olena Kryvytska, Anfisa Pochkalova and Ksenia Pantelieieva) finished in fifth place at the Fencing World Cup in Barcelona, Spain, on January 22. In the individual competition, Pochkalova finished in 12th place and earned eight points.
• Ukraine won third place after defeating Russia 40-38 in the third-place match in the junior women’s team epee event in Bratislava, Slovakia, on December 4, 2016. In the semifinal, Ukraine lost 37-39 against Hungary. The junior men’s epee team also won third place after winning 40-38 against Russia in the third-place match, and in the semifinal, Ukraine lost 37-39 against Hungary.
• Ukraine finished in sixth place in the team event of the World Cup in Tokyo on November 13, 2016. In the fifth-place match, Ukraine lost 42-45 against South Korea.
• Ukraine won first place in the women’s epee World Cup in Suzhou, China, on November 11-13, 2016. In the final, Ukraine won 43-32 against South Korea; in the semifinal, Ukraine tied 33-33 with Russia. In the women’s individual epee, Ukraine’s Dzhoan Feybi Bazhura won second place.
Chess
• Mariya Muzychuk refused to play at a Women’s World Chess Championship in Tehran, Iran, in February because of the requirement to wear a hijab head scarve.
• Anna Muzychuk won two gold medals at the 2016 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championships in Doha, Qatar, on December 26-30, 2016. Muzychuk led the field after five rounds, slowed down a bit after two draws in rounds five and six, but after two victories in rounds seven and eight, she finished the day in first place with seven points out of eight. Muzychuk won the women’s blitz tournament with 13/17 points. Vasyl Ivanchuk won in the rapid men’s division (11/15 points) and Muzychuk won first place in the women’s rapid division (9.5/12 points).
• Oleksandr Areshchenko won the 20th International Chess Tournament in Bad Wiessee, Germany, on November 7, 2016. Areshchenko scored 7.5 points out of nine possible, winning six matches and three draws. The tournament attracted 475 players from 22 countries.
Boxing
• Super lightweight Ivan Redkach (20-2-1, 16 KO) won against Demond Brock (13-4-1, 4 KO) by TKO in the eighth round after referee Jay Nady stopped the fight at 2:30 left in the round at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on January 28.
• Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitshcko (64-4, 53 KO) is scheduled to fight against WBA title-holder Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KO) of Great Britain at Wembley Stadium in London on April 29. Joshua retained his title on December 10, 2016, against Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KO) with a third-round TKO win. The Klitschko-Joshua match-up was announced on December 11, 2016. Klitschko was set to fight in a rematch against Briton Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KO) and the original match was won by unanimous decision on November 28, 2015, but the rematch was cancelled following Fury testing positive for banned substances. On October 12, 2016, Fury vacated the WBA, WBO and IBO heavyweight world titles.
• WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (11-0, 10 KO) won in a ninth-round knockout against Thabiso Mchunu (17-2, 11 KO) of South Africa on December 17, 2016, at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Usyk, an Olympic gold medalist (2012), hoped to impress audiences in his U.S. debut, but the fight got off to a slow start until the fifth round. Mchunu was knocked down in the sixth round with a left uppercut. Usyk used his jab the remainder of the bout until he scored two knockdowns in the ninth round, both with left-hand shots. Referee Lou Moret called the fight at 1:53 into the ninth round. Usyk’s next chance to impress could be on March 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
• Undefeated light heavyweight Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (17-1, 14 KO) lost by seventh-round TKO against Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 12 KO) of Cuba on December 16, 2016, at Fantasy Springs in Indio, Calif. The fight was scheduled for 10 rounds and Barrera dropped Shabranskyy to the canvas three times and trainer Manny Robles threw in the towel at 2:05 of the seventh round.
• Amateur rankings by AIBA as of December 6, 2016: (49 kg) Dmytro Zamotayev in sixth place (895 points); (91 kg) Gevorg Manukian in seventh place (1,150 points); women’s (75 kg) Kateryna Shambir in 10th place (750 points); (81 kg) Anastasiia Chernokolenko in fifth place (650 points). Tetiana Kob was named the vice-champion of Europe in boxing; and is ranked in 13th place in the women’s 51 kg division (600 points).
• Kharkiv was selected to host the 2017 Men’s European Amateur Boxing Championships that is set to take place on June 14-26. The event is hosted by the Ukrainian Boxing Federation and the European Boxing Confederation. During the selection process, Turkey and Russia also were candidates as hosts, but the vast majority voted for Ukraine.
• WBO Super featherweight (junior lightweight) Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KO) is set to defend his title against WBA super featherweight title holder Jason Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KO) of the U.S.A. on April 8 in Oxon Hill, Md.
• Heavyweight Alexander Dimitrenko (38-3, 24 KO), who was born in Crimea and resides in Germany, is set to fight against Adrian Granat (14-0, 13 KO) of Sweden on March 18 in Malmo, Sweden, for the IBF international heavyweight title.
Gymnastics
• Angelina Kysla won first place at the 2016 Mexican Open on November 25-26, 2016, in Mexico City. Kysla scored: 13.975 on vault, 13.250 on uneven bars, 13.125 on balance beam, 14.050 on floor exercise and 54.400 points in the all-around.
• Ihor Radivilov won gold in the men’s vault (15.266 points) and men’s rings (15.433 points) at the Cottbus Individual Apparatus World Cup in Cottbus, Germany, on November 17-20, 2016. Radvilov finished in fourth place (14.400 points) in the men’s floor exercise. Angela Kysla won bronze in the uneven bars (12.966 points), finished in fifth place in the women’s vault (13.716 points), fifth place in the women’s balance beam (12.666 points) and sixth place in the women’s floor exercise (12.833 points).
Olympics
• Twenty-eight Russian Olympic athletes at the 2014 Sochi Games are having their samples retested by the International Olympic Committee. Manipulations of the samples, it said, could lead to sanctions. Russia won 33 medals, 13 of which were gold. All of this comes after Prof. Richard McLaren’s report that showed a state-sponsored doping program in Russia between 2011 and 2015, and masked results using salt, coffee and in some cases male urine was used for female hockey players. Samples from the 2010 Vancouver Games are also being retested. In the wake of the report, Russia has lost the right to host the World Cup biathlon meeting in Tyumen in March and was stripped of a speed skating meet in Chelyabinsk.
• High jumper Vita Palamar of Ukraine had her 2008 bronze medal revoked by the International Olympic Committee. Among the 75 athletes whose tested samples showed positive results for banned substances (mostly the anabolic steroids Stanozolol or Turinabol), 40 were medal winners – many of them in track and field events and in weightlifting. Samples are stored for up to 10 years and new testing methods allow for smaller concentrations of banned substances to be detected.
Swimming
• Daryna Zevina won silver in the 200-meter backstroke (2:02-24 seconds) at the 2016 FINA World Swimming Championship in Windsor, Ontario, that was held on December 6-11, 2016. Ukraine finished in 20th place and tied with Slovenia.
• Mykola Romanchuk and Daryna Zevina won five medals at the FINA World Cup in Singapore on October 21-22, 2016. Romanchuk won two gold medals in the 400-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle races, and Zevina won three silver medals in women’s 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke. Romanchuk won the 1,500-meter freestyle and the 400-meter freestyle at the FINA World Cup events in Tokyo (14:26.39 seconds, 3:39.67 seconds) on October 25-26 and in Hong Kong (14:18.53 seconds, 3:40.18 seconds) on October 29-30. In the overall, Zevina finished in fifth place (270 points).
Sumo
• On November 21, 2016, Lviv hosted its first international sumo competition that attracted athletes from Ukraine, Poland and Azerbaijan. The Sumo Lviv Open Cup had a men’s lightweight division and men and women had an unlimited weight division. Ukrainian sumo wrestlers take inspiration from Ukrainian Japanese sumo legend Taiho Koki (Ivan Boryshko).
Biathlon
• Olena Pidhurshna finished in eighth place (14:31.3 seconds) in the mixed relay at the Biathlon World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, on February 9-12. Yulia Dzhima finished in ninth place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit (23:02.2 seconds).
• Anna Kryvonos, Kristina Dmytrenko, Taras Lesyuk and Anton Dudchenko won bronze in the mixed relay (1:23:17.7 seconds) at the Junior World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia, on January 27-29. Dudchenko won bronze in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint (26:43.3 seconds), and Nazarii Cebrynski and Vitaliy Trush finished in fourth and eighth place, respectively. Kryvonos finished in fourth place in the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint and Trush finished in 10th place in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint.
• Yuliia Dzhima won gold in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:02.3 seconds) and silver in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit (30:24.2 seconds) at the European Biathlon Championship in Duszniki-Zdroj, Poland, on January 25-29. Anastasia Merkushyna won the bronze medal in the individual pursuit race (45.29.7 seconds); Merkushyna, Yuliia Dzhima, Alexxander Zhirnyy and Ruslan Tkalenko won bronze in the mixed relay (1:13:03.1 seconds); and Iryna Varynets and Andriy Dotsenko finished in fourth place (37:31.1 seconds) in the single mixed relay.
• Serhiy Semenov won bronze in the men’s 20-kilometer individual race (51:34.9 seconds) at the IBU World Cup in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy, on January 19-22. Yuliya Zhuravok, Yuliia Dzhima, Valj Semerenko and Anastasiya Merkushyna finished in fourth place in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay race (1:09:49.9 seconds) Ukraine’s men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay team (Artem Pryma, Semenov, Vladimir Semakov and Dmytro Pidruchniy) finished in fourth place (1:14:43.9 seconds). Dzhima finished in 10th place in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start race (36:43.5 seconds).
• Alexander Zhirnyy tied with Tomass Krupcik of the Czech Republic (1:00:34.3 seconds) in the men’s 20-kilomter individual race at the IBU Cup in Arber, Germany, on January 14. Yuliya Zhuravok finished in fifth place in the women’s 15-kilometer individual race (54:13.2 seconds).
• Ukraine’s men’s team – Artem Pryma, Serhiy Semenov, Volodymyr Semakov and Vitaliy Kilchytsky – finished in fourth place (1:14:08.7 seconds) in the men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay team race at the IBU World Cup in Rupaulding, Germany, on January 11-15. Ukraine’s women’s team (Iryna Varynets, Yuliia Dzhima, Anastasiya Merkushyna and Olena Pidhrushna) also finished in fourth place (1:10:01.8 seconds) in the 4×6-kilomter relay. Dmytro Pidruchniy finished in seventh place in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (23:33.7 seconds).
• Yuliia Dzhima finished in fifth place in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start race (38:33.1 seconds) in Oberhof, Germany, on January 5-8. Artem Pryma finished in ninth place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit (38:41.0 seconds) and Olena Pidhrushna finished in seventh place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (23:19.8 seconds).
• Yana Bondar finished in sixth place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit (34:26.7 seconds) at the IBU Cup in Martell-Val Martello, Italy, on January 5-8.
• Vladimir Semakov finished in sixth place in the men’s 20-kilometer individual race (51:25.5 seconds) at the IBU Cup in Obertilliach, Austria, on December 16-17, 2016.
• Vitaliy Trush won gold in the junior men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit (34:08.3 seconds) at the IBU Junior World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, on December 15-17, 2016. Anon Dudchenko finished in seventh place in the same race (35:41.0 seconds). Kristina Dmytrenko finished in fourth place in the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (22:29.4 seconds). Trush won silver in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint (25:35.4 seconds) and Dudchenko finished in sixth place (26:16.1 seconds). Kristina Dmytrenko, Vlaeriya Dmytrenko and Anna Kryvonos finished in fifth place (58:18.4 seconds) in the junior women’s 3×6-kilometer relay; in the junior men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay, Ukraine (Vitaliy Trush, Dmytro Ivasenko, Taras Lesyuk and Anton Dudchenko) finished in sixth place (1:21:36.8 seconds). Kristina Dmytrenko finished in ninth place in the junior women’s 10-kilometer pursuit (33:04.1 seconds).
• Dmytro Pidruchniy finished in fifth place in the men’s 15-kilometer mass start race (36:29.1 seconds) at the IBU World Cup in Nove Mesto, the Czech Republic, on December 15-18, 2016. Serhiy Semenov finished in seventh place in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint (24:06.8 seconds).
• Vitaliy Trush won gold in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint (24:40.9 seconds) and Anton Dudchenko won gold in the junior men’s 15-kilometer individual race (39:54.5 seconds) at the Junior World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on December 10-11, 2016. Kristina Dmytrenko won silver in the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:17.4 seconds), and Valeria Dmytrenko and Liubov Kypiachenkova finished in ninth and 10th place, respectively (22:42.5 and 22:53.4 seconds).
• Iryna Varvynets, Yulia Dzhyma, Olena Pidhrushna and Anastasiya Merkushyna won bronze in the women’s 4×6-kilometer biathlon relay (1:12:08.8 seconds) at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia, on December 9-11, 2016. Artem Pryma, Serhiy Semenov, Vitaliy Kilchytsky and Dmytro Pidruchniy finished in fourth place in the men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay (1:12:32.8 seconds).
• Anastasiya Merkusyna won gold in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:11.8 seconds) at the IBU Cup in Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy, on December 8-11, 2016. Vladimir Semakov finished in fourth place in both the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit (34:16.1 seconds) and in the 10-kilometer sprint (23:58.7 seconds). Ukraine won gold in the single mixed relay (38:52.4 seconds) with Merkushyna and Artem Tishchenko. In the mixed relay, Ukraine (Anna Kryvonos, Mariya Kruchova, Ruslan Tkalenko and Semakov) finished in ninth place (1:19:07.4 seconds).
• At the IBU World Cup in Oestersund, Sweden, on November 27 through December 3, 2016, Yuliya Dzhima finished in ninth place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit race (33:05.0 seconds) and Dmytro Pidruchniy finished in ninth place (24:28.4 seconds) in the men’s 10-kilometer pursuit. Ukraine, represented by Iryna Varynets and Alexander Zhirnyy, finished in ninth place in the single mixed relay (38:10.40 seconds); in the mixed relay, Anastasiya Mekushyna, Yuliia Dzhima, Artem Pryma and Dmytro Pidruchniy finished in 10th place (1:13:19.3 seconds).
• Yana Bondar finished in fourth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at IBU Cup in Beitostolen, Norway, on November 25-27, 2016. Bondar finished in 24:50.0 seconds and Mariya Kruchkova finished in 10th place (25:44.6 seconds). Yuliya Zhuravok finished in fifth place (25:00.1 seconds) in the 7.5-kilometer sprint.
Bobsled and skeleton
• Russia was stripped of hosting rights for the 2017 world championships in Sochi by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation deemed it not “prudent” to hold the event in Russia after all of the recent scandal with widespread doping violations. Russia said that it may seek compensation for being stripped of hosting rights. The new venue will be Koenigssee, Germany, on February 13-26. Latvia had informed the federation that it planned to boycott the event if it was held in Russia. The U.S. and South Korea also said they were considering withdrawing from the event in Russia.
Paralympic
• Ukraine won 19 gold, 16 silver and 21 bronze medals at the Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup in Turka, Yavoriv district of Lviv on January 23. The next stage of the tournament is set to take place on February 10-19 in Finsterau, Germany.
Skiing
• Tania Prymak, who skis for the U.S. ski-cross team, finished in fifth place (202.50 points) at the North American Cup on January 20 at Solitude Mountain Resort, in Solitude, Utah. Other top-10 finishes for the 2016-2017 season include seventh place and 10th place at the Ski-Cross World Cup in Innichen, Italy, on December 20-22, 2016; seventh place at the World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland, on December 12-13, 2016; and a bronze medal at the National Championships in Pitztal, Austria, on November 26, 2016. Prymak’s latest ranking is 23rd with 360 points, following the fifth freestyle skiing FIS points lists for 2016-2017. Prymak finished in 12th and 17th places at the World Cup in Idre Fjall, Sweden, on February 9-12.
Hockey
• The Manitoba Junior Hockey League team the Dauphin Kings adopted a Ukrainian vyshyvanka (embroidery) as its motif for its team uniforms for its annual Ukrainian Night on January 28. During the match against Virden Oil Capitals, the Dauphin Kings won 3-2 in overtime. More than 25 percent of the population of Dauphin speaks Ukrainian ,and 41 percent of the population claim Ukrainian heritage. The evening featured Ukrainian bands, games, as well as traditional Ukrainian menu items. The jerseys were the brainchild of a collaboration between the Kings and Ryan Raliuk of Ruff’s Furniture and Dave Campbell of Parkland Source for Sports. Fans were able to bid in a silent auction on jerseys with the players’ last names in Ukrainian.
Winter Games
• Ukraine finished in 10th place in the medal standings (two gold, three silver and four bronze) at the 2017 World Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on January 29 through February 8. Yana Bondar won silver in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint biathlon (22:05.9 seconds). In the same race, Yuliya Zhuravok, Nadia Bielkina and Yuliya Brygynets finished in fourth, sixth and ninth place, respectively. Nadiia Bielkina won bronze in the women’s 15-kilometer individual race (1:02:12.3 seconds), and Yuliya Zhuravok and Yana Bondar finished in sixth and eighth place, respectively. In the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit, Bielkina won gold (32:39.6 seconds); in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start, Bondar won silver (37:17.7 seconds); while Bielkina finished in sixth place, followed by Mariya Kruchova in ninth place and Yuiya Brygynets in 10th place. In the men’s 15-kilometer mass start, Artem Tyshchenko finished in eighth place, followed by Anton Myhda in ninth place. Ukraine won bronze in the mixed relay biathlon (1:17:10.4 seconds). In the men’s 20-kilometer individual race, Anton Myhda finished in seventh place (1:06:36.8 seconds). Alexandra Nazarova and Maxim Nikitin won gold in ice dance figure skating, having finished in first place in the short program (64.12 points) and first place in the free dance program (165.62 points). Tetiana Petrova finished in fourth place in the women’s moguls final (45.17 points) and Andrii Lebedyk finished in 10th place in the men’s moguls final (34.47 points). In women’s snowboard downhill parallel giant slalom, Annamarie Dancha won silver against Alexandra Krol of Poland in the final. Oleksandr Belinskyy won bronze in the men’s snowboard parallel giant slalom after winning against Michal Nowaczyk of Poland in the final. Belinskyy also won bronze in the men’s parallel slalom after winning against Vladislav Khuramshin of Russia. Viktor Pasichnyk finished in seventh place in the men’s Nordic combined individual Gundersen NH 10-kilomter cross-country race (25:12.1 seconds). Ukraine finished in fifth place (38:58.2 seconds) in the men’s team Gundersen NH 3×5-kilometer cross-country race. Anna Muzyka finished in fourth place in the women’s mass start speed skating final with eight points, having earned the second-fastest time on three out of the four laps.
Martial arts
• Stanislav Horun (75 kg) won first place in the Premier League Karate 1 that was held in Paris on January 22-24. The tournament, hosted by the World Karate Federation, attracted 1,243 competitors from 78 countries.
• Ukraine’s Mauy Thai fighters won four gold medals and earned four spots in the World Game 2017 that are to be hosted in Wroclaw, Poland, on July 20-30. Igor Liubchenko (63.5 kg) and Oleh Pryimachov (91 kg) have already qualified for two of the spots. Additional spots were won by Trishyn Konstiantyn (57 kg), Serhii Kuliba (67 kg) and Vasyl Sorokin (71 kg).
• Ukraine’s Andrii Koval, Dmytro Panasiuk and Roman Reva won silver in the men’s duel competition at the Wushu Taolu World Cup in Fuzhou, China, on November 15-20, 2016. Liudmyla Temna finished in fourth place in the women’s Jianshu; Andrii Fehetsyn finished in fifth place in the men’s Nandao and in eighth place in the men’s Nangun; Temna finished in seventh place in the women’s Qiangshu; Ganna Tereshchenko finished in fourth place in the women’s Daoshu and fourth place in the women’s Changquan.