SOCCER
Moraes cleared to play for national team
The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body reached a verdict on May 3, rejecting the protests of Portugal and Luxembourg soccer federations, and dismissed the case against Junior Moraes. The 32-year-old Shakhtar Donetsk player from Brazil was granted Ukrainian citizenship by President Petro Poroshenko and the CEDB determined that Moraes had legally obtained Ukrainian citizenship and was eligible to compete for the Ukrainian national team in its UEFA Group B European qualifiers. The matches will determine who from Group B will advance to the final stage of the Euro 2020 championship.
Ukraine is set to play against Serbia on June 7, against Luxembourg on June 10 and against Lithuania on September 7. Ukraine plays an international friendly on September 10 against a to-be-determined team, and resumes its UEFA Group B matches on October 11 against Lithuania and against Portugal on October 14, with an additional friendly match on November 14 against Estonia, and the final UEFA Group B match on November 17 against Serbia.
2019 Ukrainian Cup final
Shakhtar Donetsk won 4-0 against Inhulets Petrove (First League) of Petrovo, Kirovohrad Oblast, in the Ukrainian Cup final on May 15 at Slavutych Arena in Zaporizhia. It was the first time in its club history that Petrove made an appearance at the Ukrainian Cup final (and the first time a First League team advanced to the final. It was the 13th Ukrainian Cup title for Shakhtar (fourth consecutive year). Scoring for Shakhtar were: Tete (with two goals), Junior Moraes and Manor Solomon.
In the semifinal, Shakhtar won 2-0 against SC Dnipro on April 17 and Inhulets won 2-1 against FC Zorya Luhansk. Inhulets won 5-4 on penalty kicks against Karpaty Lviv (Premier League) after a draw of 1-1 in regulation time during the quarterfinal on April 7. Shakhtar Donetsk won 4-3 on penalty kicks against Dynamo Kyiv.
Top goal-scorers for the season (2018-2019) were Robert Hehedosh (FC Mynal) with four goals, followed by Stanislav Kulish (SC Dnipro) with three goals.
Shakhtar advances to Champions League
Shakhtar topped the regular season Ukrainian Premier League stats with 63 points, 20-3-1 record with 56 goals for and nine against, qualifying the team for the UEFA Champions League. Dynamo Kyiv finished in second place with 56 points (18-2-4, 44 for and 13 against) and will play in the third round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage. FC Oleksandiya, FC Mariupol and Zorya Luhansk will compete in the UEFA Europa League, with Oleksandriya securing its spot in the group stage. Mariupol and Zorya will, respectively, vie in the third and second qualifying rounds.
Top goal scorers for the season were Junior Moraes (17 +1 penalty, Shakhtar), Maryan Shved (14 + 3 penalty, Karpaty Lviv), Viktor Tyshankov (14 +6 penalty, Dynamo Kyiv), Marlos (9 +1 penalty, Shakhtar). Moraes, Tyhankov and Shved all scored hat-tricks once during the season. Shakhtar had the most players on the top assists list – Taison with nine, Ismally with seven, Tyshanov (Dynamo) with seven, Moraes six, Alan Patricj with five and Andriy Tsurikov (Oleksandriy) with five.
Ukraine tops Group B in Euro qualifiers
Ukraine won 2-1 against Luxembourg on March 25 and tied 0-0 with Portugal on March 22 as part of the Group B UEFA European Qualifiers for the Euro Cup 2020. Luxembourg’s lone goal in the 34th minute by David Turpel was answered by Viktor Tsygankov in the 40th minute. Tension was high during the remaining minutes of the match until Luxembourg’s Gerson Rodrigues’s error sealed the score by netting an own-goal off a free kick by Tsygankov in extra time after 90+3 minutes of regular play.
Ukraine tops the Group B standings with four points after two matches; Luxembourg has three points and Portugal has two points. Other teams in Group B include Lithuania (0 points) and Serbia (1 point). Twenty of the top-two teams of each group after 10 matches (home and away) that conclude on November 19 will advance, along with four teams to be determined by the UEFA Nations League play-off results scheduled for March 2020 (co-hosts England, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland are in the semifinals).
Ukraine plays against Serbia on June 7 and November 17, against Luxembourg again on June 10, against Lithuania on September 7 and October 11, and against Portugal again on October 14.
U-19 men’s team in third place
Ukraine’s men’s U-19 team won 5-2 against Belgium on March 26, lost 1-3 against Italy on March 23 and tied 2-2 with Serbia on March 20 in the UEFA U-19 European Championships. In the thrashing against Belgium, scoring for Ukraine were: Artem Kholod (19th minute), Ihor Snurnitsyn (54th), Mykhailo Mudryk (88, 90+5 on a penalty-kick), and Heorhii Tsitaishvili (90+2). Belgium equalized 2-2 in the 69th minute, but could not score and defender Joren Leyssens was sent off with a red card in the 90+4th minute.
After three matches played in Group 7 of the Elite Round, Ukraine is in second place (four point), behind Italy (seven) and Belgium (four), and Serbia is in fourth place with one point.
U-17 men’s team
Ukraine’s U-17 men’s team finished in third place in Group 5 of the Elite Round of the UEFA U-17 European Championships. Ukraine lost 0-1 Spain on March 31, lost 0-1 against Greece on March 28 and won 2-0 against Kosovo on March 25. Against Kosovo, Arsenii Batahov opened the scoring in the 19th minute, and Ukraine clinched the win in the 27th minute by Bogdan Vyunnik. With the third-place finish, Ukraine does not advance to the knockout stage.
U-19 women’s team
Ukraine finished in third place with three points in Group 5 of the Elite Round of the UEFA U-19 Women’s Championships. Ukraine won 4-2 against Northern Ireland on April 9, lost 1-7 against Norway on April 6 and lost 0-6 against Denmark on April 3. Scotland hosts the final stage of the tournament and seven group winners (Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, England and France) from the elite round (28 teams).
Women’s Euro-Cup 2021 team draws Group I
Ukraine has drawn Group I of the UEFA Euro-Cup 2021, with Germany, Ireland, Greece and Montenegro. England hosts the final stage of the tournament in July 2021. Qualifying group stage matches are set to begin on August 26 through September 22, 2020.
Monzul to officiate at Women’s World Cup
Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul, representing UEFA, will officiate at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted by France. Matches are set to begin on June 7 and the final will be played on July 7 in Lyon. Ukraine’s women’s team failed to qualify for the tournament after being eliminated in the qualifying group stage.
In 2016, Monzul became the first female referee in the elite men’s Ukrainian football division of the Ukrainian Premier League. She has served as lead referee at international matches since 2005, at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier between Finland and Poland. She has also refereed the final tournament of the 2009 UEFA Euro-Cup, and, most recently, at the group stage 2017 UEFA Euro-Cup. Other Ukrainian officials at the World Cup include Oleksandra Ardasheva and Maryna Striletska, assistance referees representing UEFA.
SUMO
Ukraine wins 11 medals at the U.S Open
Ukraine won 15 medals (eight gold, four silver and two bronze) at the 19th U.S. Sumo Open 2019 in Los Angeles on March 21-25. Gold medalists were: Karyna Kolesnik (65 kg), Svitlana Kolesnyk (73 kg), Sviatoslav Semykras (85 kg), Maryna Maksynenko (80 kg), Ivanna Berezovska (+80 kg) and Oleksandr Veresiuk (+115 kg). Veresiuk won the men’s open-weight title and Berezovska won the women’s open-weight title. Silver medalists included Alina Duzhenko (65 kg), Demid Karachenko (85 kg) and Vazha Daiauri (men’s open-weight division) and Maksymenko won silver in the women’s open-weight division. Bronze medalists were Anatolii Khliustin (85 kg) and Anton Chuiev (100 kg). Ukraine finished in first place in the medals standings.
Founded in 2001, this is the longest-running annual sumo competition worldwide held outside of Japan. Other participating countries were the U.S.A., Canada, Japan, Mongolia, India, Egypt Tajikistan, Georgia, Norway and Germany.
KARATE
Ukraine wins gold and bronze in Guadalajara
Ukraine’s women’s karate team (Anzhelika Terliuha, Halyna Melnyk, Anita Seriohina and Diana Shostak) won gold at the European Karate Championship in Guadalajara, Spain, on March 30. Ukraine’s men’s team (Stanyslav Horuna, Rizvan Talibov, Viktor Ksenzhyk, Andriy Toroshanko, Ihor Lahunov and Taras Herchyk) won bronze in the team category. Horuna and Seriohina won individual bronze medals.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Moroz wins by unanimous decision
Flyweight Maryna Moroz (9-3, 2 KO) won by unanimous decision after three rounds against Sabina Mazo (6-1, 1 KO) of Colombia on March 30 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Judges scored the UFC fight 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Moroz. This was Moroz’s return to the flyweight division after her career as a strawweight fighter (November 2014 through February 2018). She previously fought in the flyweight division (November 2013 through September 2014).
SWIMMING
Govorov wins silver in Budapest
Andrii Govorov won the men’s 50-meter butterfly (22.87 seconds) at the FINA Champions Swim Series in Budapest on May 11-12. Mykhailo Romanchuk won silver in the men’s 400-meter freestyle (3:47.08 seconds).
Ukraine wins silver and bronze in Beijing
Ukraine won silver in the women’s team free combination event (86.2667 points) and bronze (83.4550 points) in the women’s duet technical routine at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series on May 4-6 in Beijing. Ukraine finished in fourth place in the women’s team technical event and Ukraine won bronze in the women’s duet free event (85.3667 points), and Oleksandra Burdova won silver in the women’s solo technical routine (84.0224 points).
Govorov wins bronze in Guangzhou
Andrii Govorov won bronze in the men’s 50-meter butterfly (23.28 seconds) at the FINA Champion’s Swim Series in Guangzhou, China, on April 27-28.
Ukraine wins two golds at Artistic World Series
Ukraine won two gold medals at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series on April 4 in Alexandroupolis, Greece. Maryna and Vladyslava Aleksiiva won gold in the duet free program (92.8000 points) and the Aleksiiva sisters won gold in the highlight routine competition (93.3333 points).
DIVING
Ukraine medals at Diving World Series in London
Oleg Kolodiy and Oleksandr Gorshkovozov won bronze medals men’s 3-meter synchronized diving (405.63 points) at the Diving World Series in London on May 17-19.
FENCING
Women’s saber team wins second place
Ukraine’s women’s saber team won second place in the team World Cup on May 12 in Tunis, Tunisia. In the final, Ukraine lost 42-45 against Italy.
Kharlan wins gold in saber at Seoul Grand Prix
Olga Kharlan won gold in the women’s saber individual event at the Grand Prix Seoul, South Korea, on April 26. In the final, Kharlan won 15-14 against Ji-Yeon of South Korea in the women’s saber final after winning 15-12 against Manon Brunet of France in the semifinal.
Humen wins gold at juniors in Poland
Vasyl Humen won gold in the cadet boys’ saber at the World Junior-Cadet Championships in Torun, Poland, on April 7. In the final, Humen won 15-10 against Giorgio Marciano of Italy, and in the semifinal Humen won 15-13 against Dohun Lee of South Korea.