BOXING
Derevyanchenko loses to Charlo
Jermall Charlo (31-0, 22 KO) retained his WBC middleweight title by outpointing Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KO) over 12 rapid-paced rounds at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., on September 26. The judges unanimously scored the fight in Charlo’s favor, 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110. The defending champ utilized his superior height and reach effectively at the start, only to have his Ukrainian challenger make adjustments, enabling him to mount an offensive counterattack from the inside with strong body punches. Derevyanchenko, 34, was wobbled by an overhand right in the third round, settled back down, and began to close the distance in the middle rounds, steadily landing punches with both hands. The two combatants stood tall and traded power punches, both landing their share of left body jabs and solid rights over the top. Charlo was a bit faster and more accurate in buzzing Derevyanchenko, bruising his face and opening a cut on the left eye. The Ukrainian landed 180 punches (out of 681), the most ever landed on Charlo, who landed 219 of 627.
Postol loses against Ramirez
Super lightweight Viktor Postol (31-3, 12 KO) lost against Jose Carlos Ramirez (26-0, 17 KO) of the U.S.A. on August 29 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Postol, in a closely contested match, lost his chance to snatch the WBO and WBC world titles. After 12 rounds, the judges scored the fight 114-114, 115-113, 116-112.
Kopylenko retires after fifth
Middleweight Vitaliy Kopylenko (26-3, 14 KO) retired after the fifth round against Bob Rant (26-2, 18 KO) of the U.S.A. on August 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was scheduled for 10 rounds, and all three judges scored the fight 50-45 across the board.
SOCCER
Clubs vie for spots in Europa League
Kolos Kovalivka was successful during its debut in the second qualifying round at the UEFA Europa League on September 17 with a 2-1 win against Greece’s Aris at Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium in Thessaloniki. Andriy Bogdanov opened the scoring in the 47th minute, and Bruno Gama leveled the score for the Greeks in the 55th minute. Denys Antyukh capped the win in the 63rd minute. Kolos was eliminated 0-2 against Croatia’s Rijeka in the third qualifying round on September 24 in Rijeka, Croatia. Desna Chernihiv lost 0-2 against Germany’s Wolfsburg on September 24 in the third qualifying round in Wolfsburg, Germany. Zorya Luhansk advanced to the group stage of the tournament, with the match draw scheduled for October 2 in Nyon, Switzerland. Group stage matches are scheduled for October 22 through December 10.
UEFA Champions League
Dynamo Kyiv secured its spot in the UEFA Champions League group stage after it won 5-1 on aggregate against Gent (Belgium) on September 29. Dynamo won 3-0 at Olympiyskyi Stadium in Kyiv, as part of the UEFA Champions League playoffs. Scoring for Ukraine were Vitaliy Buyalskiy in the ninth minute, Carlos De Pena in the 36th minute off a penalty kick and Gerson Rodrigues in the 49th minute off another penalty kick. Dynamo won 2-1 against Gent on September 23 in the first-leg match. Vladyslav Supryaha scored in the ninth minute for Dynamo and Tim Kleindienst equalized in the 41st minute, but De Pena secured the win for Dynamo in the 79th minute. In the third qualifying round on September 15, Dynamo won 2-0 against AZ Alkmaar (the Netherlands) in Kyiv. Shakhtar Donetsk secured its spot in the Champions League group stage with its first-place finish in the Ukrainian Premier League.
Ukraine wins 2-1 against Switzerland
Ukraine won 2-1 against Switzerland on September 3 in Lviv as part of League A, Group 4, of the UEFA Nations League. Andriy Yarmolenko scored in the 15th minute, with Haris Seferovic leveling the score in the 42nd minute. But Ukraine upped the ante in the 69th minute with a goal by Oleksandr Zinchenko. Spain defeated Ukraine 4-0 in the second round in Madrid on September 6. Sergio Ramos scored twice (third minute and 29th minute), Anssumane Fati (32nd minute) and Ferran Torres (84th minute) also scored. Spain tops the standings with four points after two rounds, Ukraine – in second place in the group – has three points, Germany has two points and Switzerland one point. Ukraine will play its next Nations League match against Germany in Kyiv on October 10.
Dynamo Kyiv wins Ukrainian Cup
Ukrainian Cup winners Dynamo Kyiv won 3-1 against Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Super Cup at the Olimpiyskyi National Sports Complex in Kyiv on August 25. Carlos de Pena, Gerson Rodrigues and Fran Sol scored for Dynamo Kyiv. Junior Moraes scored for Shakhtar Donetsk. This is Mircea Lucescu’s first trophy as the manager of the Kyiv club. In the first round of the Ukrainian Premier League, Dynamo Kyiv beat Olimpik 4-1 and Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Kolos 3-1. Dynamo Kyiv has now won the Ukrainian Super Cup for the ninth time in its history.
Shakhtar exits UEFA Europa League
Italy’s Inter thrashed Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in Dusseldorf on August 17 as part of the UEFA Europa League semifinal. Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez both scored twice. Inter lost 2-3 against Spain’s Sevilla in the final in Cologne on August 21. Earlier, Sevilla beat Manchester United 2-1 and reached the Europa League final. Shakhtar secured its spot in the UEFA Champions League group stage with its first-place finish in the Ukrainian Premier League.
Ukraine’s U-21 wins 4-0 against Malta
Ukraine’s Under-21 team won 4-0 against Malta on September 10 as part of Group 8 of the UEFA U-21 Championship. Ukraine lost 0-2 against Finland on September 6. Ukraine is in fourth place in Group 8, tied with Finland with seven points each. Denmark leads the group with 19 points, followed by Romania (16 points), Northern Ireland in fifth place (six points) and Malta in sixth place (one point).
TENNIS
Svitolina reaches QF in Rome
Fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in second round action (after a first-round bye), bested Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the third round, only to lose in the quarterfinals to Marketa Vondrousova, 3-6, 0-6, at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia, held in Rome on September 14-20. Dayana Yastremska won over Camila Giorgi, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4 and defeated Amanda Anisimova, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4, before losing to Simona Halep, 5-7, 4-6, in third round action.
Svitolina in fifth place in WTA rankings
Elina Svitolina retains the fifth spot (with 4,960 points) in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings that were posted on September 28. Other Ukrainian tennis players in the top-100 rankings by the WTA include Dayana Yastremska, who is in 28th place, and Kateryna Kozlova in 99th place. Svitolina reached the quarterfinals of the Premier 5 tournament in Rome.
GOLF
Furyk wins consecutive titles
Jim Furyk joined some elite company on September 20 when he won the PGA Tour Champions Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach, Fla. His three-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole on the first playoff hole gave the Jacksonville resident the victory over Jerry Kelly and his second PGA Tour Champions win in as many starts. Only Arnold Palmer and Bruce Fleisher have won their first two Champions Tour events, Palmer in 1980-1981 and Fleisher in 1999. Furyk won the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Mich., last month to become the 19th player to win his first Champions start. “I feel very fortunate, it means a lot,” Furyk said in a post-tournament press conference. “When I won at Ally, I hadn’t won in over five years. It’s why we play the game, it’s why you work so hard, it’s to have this feeling. I feel honored I guess to be mentioned with AP (Palmer). I look at the hard work I put in a lot of this year through our delay, our break.” The victory in Pebble Beach had added significance since it was the city where he and his wife Tabitha got engaged.