Soccer
• Shakhtar Donetsk has drawn Eintracht Frankfurt and Dynamo Kyiv is set to play against Olympiacos (Greece) with the first-leg match on February 14 and the second-leg match on February 21, 2019. The draw was held on December 17 in Lyon, France. Both teams had been using Olympiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv for UEFA matches because Shakhtar was previously playing matches in Kharkiv. Because of martial law being declared in Kharkiv, Shakhtar’s matches were moved to Kyiv. The Europa League final is set for May 29, 2019, in Baku.
• Shakhtar Donetsk tied 1-1 with Lyon (France) on December 12 in Kyiv as the final round of matches of Group F of the UEFA Champions League. Shakhtar was relegated to the Europa League after it finished in third place in Group F with six points after six matches played – one win, three draws and two losses, with eight goals for and 16 against. Shakhtar and will join Dynamo in the knock-out phase (Round of 32).
• Dynamo Kyiv lost 0-1 against Jablonec (Czech Republic) on December 12 in Kyiv as part of the UEFA Europa League group stage. Dynamo advanced to the knock-out round after it finished in first place of Group K (11 points after six matches played, with three wins, two draws and one loss; 10 goals for and seven against). Vorskla Poltava lost 0-3 against Sporting (Portugal) on December 12 in Lisbon. Poltava was eliminated after it finished in third place in Group E (one win, and five losses; four goals for and 13 against to finish with three points).
Boxing
• Flyweight champion Artem Dalakian (18-0-13 KO) won by sixth-round TKO against Gregorio Lebron (13-4, 11 KO) of the Dominican Republic on December 15 at Parkovyy Convention Center in Kyiv. The fight was scheduled for six rounds and Dalakian defended his WBA flyweight title he has held since February 2018.
Tennis
• Elina Svitolina won the Open de Caen exhibition tournament in France on December 10. Svitolina won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Aleksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the final. The Ukrainian, ranked No. 4 by the WTA, won the tournament also in 2017.
Judo
• Ukraine won two gold medals at the Judo Grand Prix at The Hague on November 17-18. Yakiv Khammo (+100 kg) and Maryna Cherniak (48 kg) won gold. Ukraine had four fifth-place finishers and two seventh-place finishers to top the medals table. The tournament attracted 412 athletes from 62 countries.
• Ukraine finished in eighth place with four silver and three bronze medals at the Cadet European Judo Cup in Gyor, Hungary, on November 17-18. Silver medalists included Mykyta Holoborodko (50 kg) Ivan Prudius (66 kg), Tymur Valieiev (81 kg) and Anastasiia Shyzhevska (57 kg). Bronze medalists were Yuliia Kurchenko (63 kg), Yevhenii Verkush (+90 kg) and Vladyslav Kazimirov (60 kg). The tournament attracted 422 athletes from 27 countries.
• Yelyzaveta Kalanina (+78 kg) won bronze at the Grand Prix in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on November 10-11. The tournament attracted 347 athletes from 47 countries.
• Fedir Panko (+100 kg) won bronze at the U23 European Judo Championship in Gyor, Hungary, on November 2-4. The tournament attracted 296 athletes from 37 countries.
• Bohdan Pushenko (81 kg) won gold at the Cadet European Judo Cup Koper in Koper, Slovenia, on October 27-28. The tournament attracted 317 athletes from 27 countries.
• Daria Bilodid (48 kg) won gold at the World Judo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on September 20. Bilodid, 17, became the youngest world champion in judo in her weight category. Georgii Zantaraia (66 kg) won bronze. Ukraine tied with Iran for fifth place (one gold, one bronze) in the tournament that attracted 758 athletes from 125 countries.
• Ukraine won two gold medals at the Junior European Judo Championships on September 14-16 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Gold medalists included Dilshot Khalmatov (55 kg) and Hievorh Manukian (73 kg). Ukraine was represented by 20 athletes and the competition attracted 405 athletes from 42 countries.
• Ukraine won second place with six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze) at the IBSA Judo World Cup in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, on September 8-9. Gold medalists were Inna Cherniak (52 kg), Serhii Kotenko (73 kg) and Oleksandr Nazarenko (90 kg). Davyd Khorava (66 kg) won silver, and Yuliya Halinska (48 kg) and Olexandr Kosinov (81 kg) won bronze medals. The tournament attracted 104 athletes from 19 countries.
Fencing
• Alina Komashchuk tied with Caroline Queroli of France for third place in women’s saber at the Fencing World Cup in Orleans, France, on November 9.
• Anatolii Herey won silver in the men’s épée individual event at the team tournament in Oslo, Norway, on September 29.
• Yana Shemyakina won gold in the women’s épée event at the team tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia, on September 16. Shemyakina won 15-14 against countryman Inna Brovko, who won silver.
Basketball
• Ukraine is in Round 2 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification round. Ukraine, in fifith place in Group I, won 76-65 against Spain on September 14, lost 84-90 against Montenegro on September 17, won 82-54 against Slovenia on November 29, and lost 68-72 against Spain again on December 2. Ukraine plays against Montenegro again on February 22 and against Slovenia on February 25. Ukraine has 15 points after 10 matches (5-5). The top three teams advance to the FIBA World Cup. Spain and Turkey have qualified, and Ukraine is vying for the third-place spot to advance to the FIBA World Cup.
Biathlon
• Ekaterina Bekh won bronze in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint (21:20.0 seconds) at the Junior IBU Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on December 15-16.
• Yuliia Dzhima won gold in the women’s 15-kilometer individual race at the BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia, on December 3-9. Ukraine’s single mixed relay team – Anastasiya Merkushyna and Artem Tishchenko – won bronze (38:47.4 seconds).
• Nadiia Belkina won bronze (24:06.5 seconds) in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the IBU Cup in Idre-Sweden on November 29 through December 2.
• Three Russian athletes – Catherine Beh, Anastasiya Rasskazova and Oksana Moskalenko – are set to represent Ukraine at international competitions, as stated by Vladimir Brynzak, head of the Ukrainian Biathlon Federation. Joining the Russian athletes is their trainer, Ilya Lopukhov. The parents of the athletes are Ukrainian citizens.
Athletics
• Ukraine won numerous medals at the Gloria Cup Athletics Tournament on September 11 in Turkey. Yuriy Cheban won gold in men’s single 200-meter canoe sprint, Mykhailo Romanchuk won gold in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle swimming race, Ivan Pushkin (M85) won gold in the men’s 5,000-meter race-walk. Daryna Zevina won silver in the women’s 200-meter backstroke, Romanchuk won silver in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle race, Zevina won silver in the women’s 200-meter backstroke. Bronze medalists were Bohdan Bondarenko (men’s high jump), and Oleh Kolodiy and Illya Kvasha (men’s 3-meter synchronized springboard diving).
• Ukraine won nine medals at the 2018 World Athletics Masters Championship in Malaga, Spain, on September 4-16. Gold medalists included Lyudmyla Pushkina (W50) in the women’s 2,000-meter race-walk, Liliia Apolosova (W40) in the women’s 600-gram javelin throw, Nataliia Radionova (W45) in the women’s 9.080 kg hammer throw, Serhii Havras in the men’s (M60) 600-gram javelin throw; silver medalists were Lyusya Alekseyeva (W80) in the women’s 5,000-meter race-walk and Svitlana Sorochuk (W50) in the women’s shot put. Bronze medalists were Mykola Panaselko (M80) in the men’s 5,000-meter race-walk, Antonina Kyshko (W70) in the women’s 5,000-meter race-walk and Valentyna Krepkina (W50) in the women’s triple jump.
Mixed martial arts
• Flyweight Aleksander Doskalchuk (10-1, 4 KO) won by unanimous decision after five rounds against Mikael Silander (18-7, 3 KO) of Finland on November 17 at M-1 Challenge 99 Global.
• Heavyweight Sergey Spivak (9-0, 4 KO) won by first-round submission against Tony Lopez (61-29, 24 KO) of the U.S.A. on September 29 at the Sports Palace in Kyiv. The fight, which was scheduled for five rounds, was part of a WWFC 12 tournament. Flyweight Teimur Rahimov (7-1, 3 KO) won by fifth-round TKO against countryman Alexander Barabash (8-2, 2 KO). Strawweight Svetlana Gotsyk (11-4, 3 KO) won by first-round KO against Umutkan Aitieva (2-1, 0 KO) of Kyrgyzstan.
Sailing
• The Sailing Federation of Ukraine (SFU) has appealed to the World Sailing Board (WSB) and the International Olympic Committee to ban sailing events in Crimea organized by the Russian Federation. Instead, the SFU is asking that Ukraine host events in Crimea. The WSB sent a letter to the Russian Yachting Federation on September 10, 2017, informing its president, Vladimir Silkin, that its by-laws prohibit Russia from hosting events in Crimea. The SFU stated that if the WSB continues to recognize Russia as a member of its board, then it also recognizes Russia’s annexation of Crimea, against the U.N. rules.
Rowing
• Ukraine won one silver medal and two bronze medals (men’s four-man; mixed para-rowing two-person) at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on September 9-16. Ukraine finished in 19th place out of 28 countries. Roman Polianskyi won silver in the men’s para-rowing men’s single race.