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. All three judges scored 118-109 for the 30-year-old from Ukraine who won the vacant WBA flyweight title.
• Cruiserweight Serhiy Radchenko (3-1, 0 KO) lost after eight rounds by unanimous decision against Krzystof Glowacki (28-0, 17 KO) of Poland on February 10 in Nysa, Poland.
• Heavyweight Iago Kiladze (26-2, 18 KO) lost by sixth-round TKO against Adam Kownacki (17-0, 14 KO) of Poland on January 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
• Middleweight Dmytro Mytrofanov (2-0, 1 KO) won by unanimous decision after eight rounds against Marcus Willis (17-5-2, 4 KO) of the U.S.A. on January 13 at Midwest Conference Center in Northlake, Ill.
• Heavyweight Alexandr Dimitrenko (41-3, 26 KO) of Germany (originally from Crimea) versus Miljan Rovcanin (18-0-1, 12 KO) of Serbia initially ended in a split decision draw after 10 rounds (judges scored 96-90, 94-92 and 93-93) at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany, on December 22, 2017. It was later ruled by the German Boxing Federation (BDB) as a win for Dimitrenko when Rovcanin was disqualified after a three-point deduction (two points in the third round and one in the seventh round). The BDB rules had him disqualified in the seventh after a third point deduction was made. Dimitrenko has held the IBF International heavyweight title since March 2017.
Doping
• At a ministerial meeting on December 21, 2017, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Ihor Hotsul said Ukraine would intensify the fight against doping in sports at the national level. “We cannot do without strengthening liability, including criminal liability, for the use of doping. All this will be punished by the return of payments, the cancellation of titles, the stripping of state awards, and the ban on working in sports. Finally, the outlook in relation to this phenomenon should change. Each federation, both at the national and regional level, as well as every sports school, should develop and implement effective doping control measures, and these measures should be supported by respective budgets. Next year it is necessary to approve the new wording of the law of Ukraine on countering doping and increase the number of doping tests that we send to accredited laboratories,” Hotsul said. He also spoke about anti-doping measures that were carried out this year by representatives of Ukraine under the auspices of the WADA, the Council of Europe, UNESCO and other organizations. “An agreement was signed with the National Anti-Doping Agency of Germany, which provides advisory assistance to our anti-doping center. In addition, the funding for anti-doping programs was increased. We also managed to obtain a UNESCO grant for the needs of the national anti-doping center. All of this was made possible thanks to the principled position of Youth and Sports Minister Ihor Zhdanov, the leadership of the NOC, the National Anti-Doping Center of Ukraine, the support of the ministries, departments, and deputies,” Hotsul said.
Tennis
• Elina Svitolina lost in the quarterfinal 6-7(3-7), 6-7(5-7) against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia at the Miami Open on March 19 through April 1. Kateryna Bondarenko lost 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 1-6 against Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in the first round of women’s singles, and Lesia Tsurenko also was eliminated in the first round after her 6-3, 4-6, 5-7 loss against Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia. Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia lost 2-6, 4-6 against Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia in the women’s doubles quarterfinal, and Nadia Kichenok of Ukraine and Anastasia Rodionova of Russia lost 6-7 (5-7), 2-6 against Ashleigh Barty of Australia and CoCo Venderweghe of the U.S.A. in the quarterfinal as well.
• Elina Svitolina was eliminated 5-7, 3-6 in the third round by Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 7. Lesia Tsurenko lost 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 against Lara Arrubarrena of Spain in the first round.
• Denys Molchanov of Ukraine and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia won men’s doubles after defeating Aliaksandr Bury of Belarus and Hsie-yin Peng of Taiwan 7-5, 7-6(7-4) at the Zhuhai Open tennis tournament in Zhuhai, China, on March 5-11. Marta Kostyuk finished in second place in women’s singles after losing 2-6, 4-6 against Maryna Zanevska of Belgium (originally from Odesa).
• Elina Svitolina won the Tie Break Tens tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 5. Svitolina won 10-3 against Venus Williams of the U.S.A. in the quarterfinal, 10-0 against CoCo Vanderweghe of the U.S.A. in the semifinal, and 10-3 against Zhang Shuai of China in the final.
• Lesia Tsurenko won the Abierto Mexicano Telcel WTA tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, on March 4. Tsurenko won the final 5-7, 7-6, (7-2), 6-2 against Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.
• The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) released its latest rankings for April 2018. Elina Svitolina is ranked No. 4 (5,630 points), followed by Lesia Tsurenko (40th, 1,260 points), Kateryna Kozlova (66th, 907 points) and Kateryna Bondarenko (76th, 803 points).
• On January 29, Elina Svitolina had been bumped up to No. 3 by the Women’s Tennis Association, following the results of the 2018 Australian Open. Topping the list were Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (No. 1, 2018 Australian Open champion) and Simona Halep of Romania (No. 2). Svitolina traded places with Garbine Mugurusa (No. 4) of Spain.
• Lesia Tsurenko was eliminated from the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia, on January 7-13 after losing 2-6, 2-6 in the semifinal against Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania. Elina Svitolina won the first WTA title of the year on December 31, 2017, through January 6 at the Brisbane International, beating Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
Fencing
• Olga Kharlan won gold in women’s saber at the Grand Prix in Seoul, South Korea, on March 30. In the final, Kharlan won 15-7 against Anna Marton of Hungary.
• Bohdan Nikishin finished in fifth place in the men’s épée event at the WESTEND Grand Prix in Budapest on March 23-25. Nikishin lost 10-15 against Alex Fava of France in the quarterfinal.
• Ukraine’s junior women’s saber team finished in ninth place after winning 45-34 against Turkey at the Junior European Championships in Sochi, Russia, on March 11. Ukraine’s junior men’s épée team finished in 10th place after losing 37-45 against Sweden.
• Olga Kharlan finished in fifth place in women’s saber at the World Cup event in Athens on March 16. Kharlan lost 13-15 against Biana Pascu of Romania in the quarterfinal. In team competition, Ukraine’s women’s saber team finished in 10th place after losing 34-45 against Poland in the ninth-place match.
• Ukraine’s men’s saber team finished in 10th place in the team tournament on February 25 in Dubai. In the ninth-place match, Ukraine lost 43-45 against Germany.
• Ukraine’s men’s épée team finished in fifth place after defeating Germany 45-40 at the team tournament in Vancouver, Canada, on February 16-18. In individual men’s épée, Bohdan Nikishin won gold after defeating Daniel Jerent of France 15-13 in the final.
• Ukraine’s junior women’s épée team finished in sixth place at the World Cup tournament in Dijon, France, on February 17-18. Ukraine lost 42-45 against Switzerland in the fifth-place match. In individual competition, Darja Varfolomeyeva finished in eighth place in the junior women’s épée event, after losing 9-15 against Alessandra Bozza of Italy in the quarterfinal.
• Ukraine’s junior women’s foil team finished in eighth place at the team World Cup tournament in Moeding, Germany, on February 18. In the seventh-place match, Ukraine lost 29-42 against Canada.
• Ukraine’s men’s foil team finished in 10th place (24 points) at the Lowe von Bonn tournament on February 11 in Bonn, Germany. In the ninth-place match, Ukraine lost 39-45 against Hong Kong.
• Olena Kryvytska tied with Young Mi Kang of South Korea for third place in women’s épée at the Fencing World Cup in Barcelona, Spain, on February 9.
• Nataliya Stepanyan finished in sixth place in the women’s épée event at the Grand Prix Bratislava World Cup in Bratislava, Slovakia, on February 4. Stepanyan lost 13-15 against Kristina Kuusk of Estonia in the quarterfinal. In the junior women’s epee, Ukraine finished in sixth place after it lost 44-45 against Israel.
• Andriy Yagodka finished in seventh place in the men’s saber event at the Trophee Luxardo in Padoue, Quebec, on February 2-4. Yagodka lost 10-15 in the quarterfinal against Luca Curatoli of Italy. In men’s team saber, Ukraine finished in ninth place after its 45-41 win against Georgia.
• Alina Komashchuk finished in eighth place in the women’s saber World Cup in Baltimore, Md., on January 26-28. Komashchuk lost 13-15 in the quarterfinal against Martina Crisco of Italy. In women’s team saber, Ukraine finished in ninth place after it won 45-35 against Germany.
• Bohdan Nikishin won silver in the men’s épée at the Heidenheimer Pokal in Heidenheim, Germany, on January 25-27. In the final, Nikishin lost 13-15 against Kazuyasu Minobe of Japan. In men’s team épée, Ukraine finished in seventh place after losing 27-45 against the Czech Republic.
• Ukraine’s junior women’s saber team finished in eighth place at the Team Fencing World Cup in Segovia, Italy, on January 21. In the eighth-place match, Ukraine lost 35-45 against France.
• Ukraine’s men’s foil team finished in seventh place at the Paris International Challenge on January 21. In the seventh-place match, Ukraine won 45-41 against Poland.
• Olena Kryvytska finished in 10th place in women’s épée at the Fencing World Cup in Havana, Cuba, on January 19. Kryvytska lost 14-15 against Young Mi Kang of South Korea in the third round.
• Ukraine finished in sixth place in the junior women’s épée team World Cup in Burgos, Spain, on December 17, 2017. Ukraine lost 43-45 against Poland in the fifth-place match.
• Olga Kharlan won gold in the women’s saber event at the Saber Grand Prix in Cancun, Mexico, on December 15, 2017. In the final, Kharlan won 15-6 against Arianna Errigo of Italy.
• Kateryna Chorniy tied with Emma Borsody of Hungary for third place in the junior women’s épée World Cup in Udine, Italy, on January 7. In the semifinal, Chorniy lost 5-15 against Federica Isola of Italy.
Soccer
• Ukraine’s men’s national team won 2-1 against Japan in an international friendly on March 27 at Maurice Dufrasne Stadium in Liege, Belgium. Yaroslav Rakytskyi opened the scoring in the 21st minute, and Japan leveled in the 41st minute with a header by Tomoaki Makino. Oleksandr Karavayev, with his first international goal, sealed the win for Ukraine in the 69th minute. On March 23, Ukraine tied 1-1 with Saudi Arabia at Estadio Municipal in Marbella, Spain. Artem Kravets opened the scoring in the 32nd minute for Ukraine and the Saeed Al Mowalad equalized in the 38th minute. The friendly matches were organized as warm-ups for those teams that had qualified for the World Cup in Russia.
• Shakhtar Donetsk lost 0-1 against FC Roma on March 13 as part of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match. Shakhtar won 2-1 against Roma on February 21 in Rome. Roma won on away aggregate goals.
• Dynamo Kyiv played to a 0-0 draw with AEK Athens in the second-leg match on February 22 in Athens in the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League. In the first-leg match, Dynamo played to a 1-1 draw with AEK in Kyiv on February 15 and advanced to the round of 16. Dynamo lost 0-2 against SS Lazio in the second-leg match on March 15 in the round of 16. Dynamo tied 2-2 with Lazio in the first-leg match on March 8 in Rome.
• Ukraine’s U-21 men’s team lost 1-2 against England on March 27 as part of the Group 4 qualifying match of the UEFA U-21 Championships. Ukraine is in fourth place in Group 4 with eight points after six matches. England tops Group 4 with 16 points, followed by the Netherlands (11 points), Scotland (eight points, third place), Latvia (three points) and Andorra (two points). The next round of matches is to be played on June 5-13, with matches running until October 16 before the play-offs, which run November 12-20.
• Ukraine’s U-19 men’s team advanced to the final group stage during the UEFA U-19 Championships. Ukraine will be joined by England, Finland (hosts), France, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Turkey. Group stage matches will be played on July 16-23, with the final to be played on July 29. Ukraine won 2-1 against Romania on March 27 and finished in first place in Group 4 of the Elite Round with seven points. Ukraine won 2-1 against Serbia on March 24, tied 0-0 with Sweden on March 21. The U-19 tournament is a European qualifier for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.
• Ukraine’s U-17 men’s team finished in third place in Group 1 of the Elite Round (with two points) of the UEFA U-17 Championship. Ukraine tied 1-1 with Spain on March 21, won 2-1 against Serbia on March 24 and tied 0-0 with the Czech Republic on March 27. Serbia topped the group with seven points, followed by Spain with five points. Serbia and Spain advanced to the round of 16 knockout round.
• Ukraine’s women’s team is in second place in Group 4 with seven points after three matches played during the qualifying round of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Ukraine won 3-0 against Croatia on April 5 . Matea Bosnjak of Croatia scored an own goal in the 25th minute, and Tetyana Kozyrenko netted two goals for Ukraine in the 41st minute and in three minutes into extra time of the first half. Ukraine plays against Denmark on April 9 and again on June 8. Ukraine plays Sweden on June 12 and against Hungary on September 4.
• Ukraine has drawn League B, pot 2 of the UEFA Nations League with Sweden, the Republic of Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The draw was based on coefficient rankings according to UEFA, with Ukraine in 17th place with a coefficient of 28.286 points. The Nations League competition will be held from September 6 through November 20, with finals to be held on June 5-9, 2019. The competition will serve as a qualification process for the UEFA Euro Cup 2020. The UEFA Nations League includes 55 teams divided into four leagues of 12 teams, separated into three pots in Leagues A and B (12 teams each) and four pots in Leagues C (15 teams) and D (16 teams). Ukraine, in Group 1 of League B, plays against the Czech Republic on September 6 and against Slovakia on November 16. The winner of the group will be promoted to Nations League A, and the loser will be relegated to Nations League C.
• Copenhagen midfielder Benjamin Verbic signed a four-year contract with Dynamo Kyiv. The 24–year-old Slovenian, who also plays for the Slovenian national team, had 27 matches played for Copenhagen, where he scored 11 goals and made two assists.
• Dynamo Kyiv was ranked by UEFA in 11th place of all-time winning European clubs. With 34 appearances in European competition and 227 matches played, Dynamo’s record included 96 wins, 49 draws and 82 defeats, with 326 goals for and 275 conceded. Shakhtar ranked in 31st place with 18 Champions League appearances played in 116 matches (49 wins, 22 draws and 45 losses).
• Metalist FC is having its assets transferred to another respective body, to be determined by the Justice Ministry of Ukraine, following the corruption case against the club that is being carried out by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Yevhen Yenin, deputy prosecutor general, stated that the confiscation of the Metalist football club is in the final stage, because a court decision on confiscation took effect more than two months ago. The case is seeking to confiscate illegally obtained funds, with court decisions beginning in the first quarter of 2018.
Futsal
• Ukraine was eliminated by Spain 1-0 on February 6 in the quarterfinal after it had advanced to the knockout stage of the UEFA Euro Futsal Cup, finishing in second place (three points) in Group C. Ukraine lost 2-3 against Romania on February 2 and lost 3-5 in its second match against Portugal on February 4. In the main round, Ukraine won 1-0 against Belgium on April 8, 2017, won 4-2 against Montenegro on April 9, 2017, and won 2-1 against Croatia on April 11, 2017. The group stage has 12 teams divided into four groups.
Beach soccer
• Ukraine won 4-3 against Azerbaijan on January 29 to finish in third place with three points after three matches played as part of the Persian Beach Soccer Cup Busher-Iran 2018 friendly tournament on January 27-29. In the round-robin portion, Ukraine lost 2-6 against Spain on January 27 and lost 3-6 against Iran on January 28. Iran won with nine points, followed by Spain with six. Azerbaijan was in fourth place with zero points.