SPORTSLINE (02/23/97)

SPORTSLINE

FIGURE SKATING

Bizarre doings in men's competition

Last year's European champion, Ukraine's Vyacheslav Zahorodniuk, surrendered his crown to Russia's Alexei Urmanov at this year's tournament, held in Paris January 18-25. Mr. Zahorodniuk stayed on the podium, however, settling for the bronze behind the charismatic Phillipe Candeloro of France.

Many spectators at the skating center in Paris were left scratching their heads over the ranking system after the placings bounced in a bizarre fashion.

After the short program, some (including Reuters in its report over the wires) placed Mr. Zahorodniuk in first, crediting him with "a flawless routine" based on a "Russian Sailor's Dance" music [which enabled him] to grab the lead ahead of defending champion Ilya Kulik of Russia.

When the smoke cleared, however, he stood in second place behind Mr. Kulik, with Germany's Andrei Vlascenko in third, and Mr. Urmanov a seemingly distant sixth.

During the long skate final, the Ukrainian appeared to assume the lead, and seemed to hold it, even after Messrs. Urmanov (who rose to second) and Candeloro (in fourth) had skated.

However, when Mr. Vlascenko turned in a sub-par long program, Mr. Urmanov rose to first and the Frenchman was catapulted up past Mr. Zahorodniuk.

International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta was quoted in a January 25 Reuters report defending the judging system. "The fact that millions of spectators did not understand the system ... does not mean the system is wrong," Mr. Cinquanta said. He added that the ISU "must do something to ensure the spectators are not in that position again."

Prior to the European competition, the ISU announced that qualification rules for the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, would be changed.

Beginning with the 1997-1998 season, the number of entries from each country in the world championships and the Olympics will depend on the previous-year performance of the entire team, instead of the top performance from one skater in a world championship.

The new qualification rules will be in place for this year's world championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 17-23. Twenty-four slots in each Olympic singles event will be determined, along with slots for 16 pairs and 19 ice dancing duos. Other competitors will face a series of qualification rounds.

Pliuta makes a splash

In the preliminary stages of the tourney, Kyiv native Yevhen Pliuta, a 22-year-old rookie, grabbed headlines and won his qualifying group with a program of seven triple jumps, including two in combination.

On January 19, Brian Creighton of Reuters gushed, "[Mr. Pliuta] opened with a superb triple axel, followed with a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination, and the only flaw came on a second triple axel when he only managed a single."

The new Ukrainian sensation fared less well the rest of the way, placing seventh in the short program, 13th in the long, and 12th over all, but he certainly served notice of his potential as a star of the future.

Also in the running was Dmytro Dmytrenko, who eventually outpaced the new kid on the block with a veteran's consistency, finishing eighth in the short, and eighth in the long to place eighth over all.

Women's, ice dance, pairs

Yulia Lavrenchuk rose from fifth after the short program to claim Ukraine's other bronze medal at the Europeans, finishing behind Irina Slutskaya of Russia (gold) and Hungary's Kristina Czako. Olena Liashenko also turned in a strong performance, finishing fifth over all.

In the ice dance, Irina Romanova and Ihor Yaroshenko placed, as they have so many times in their career, sixth. Ukraine's other entries, Elena Grushina and Ruslan Honcharov, were 13th, while Natalia Gudina and Vitaliy Kurkudym were 18th.

In the pairs competition, Olena Belousovska and Stanislav Morozov placed eighth over all, while Evgenia Filomenko and Ihor Marchenko finished 11th.

HOCKEY

Home ice proved to be of little advantage to Ukraine's national junior hockey team, as it remained mired in the international system's Pool B.

This year's Pool B championships were held in Kyiv from December 27 to January 5, but the venue served more as a launch pad for surging Team Kazakstan, which had won Pool C last year, and advanced to Pool A by finishing first this year.

With a mediocre 3-3-1 won-lost-tied record, Ukraine finished fifth in the standings. Individual stats were indicative, as team top scorer Oleksander Yakovenko (9 points on 5 goals and 4 assists) Vladyslav Serov (8, 6, 2) and Oleksander Zinevych (8, 5, 3) finished ninth, 10th and 11th in the standings.

In the first period of Ukraine's first game of the tournament, things looked good. Oleh Krykunenko (who finished with four goals and one assist over all) put his side ahead of Kazakstan at 3:56, and they took the 1-0 lead into the dressing room. This didn't last, as the Kazaks potted three unanswered goals to take the contest.

The next day, Ukraine lost to France 4-3, a strange see-saw contest in which the teams seemed to take turns in going to sleep for a period. France went up 3-0, then Ukraine scored three straight, then Thierry Nicoud put it away for the Tricolor at 13:52 of the last frame.

In subsequent play, Ukraine had trouble with Japan before winning 4-3, and blew out Pool doormats Italy (7-3) and Hungary (8-1).

The blue-and-yellow's last two games in the competition were respectable: a 2-2 tie with Norway, and a hard-fought 2-1 loss to Latvia, but obviously not Pool A stuff.

On a note that doesn't concern Ukraine, but should, the 20-team European Hockey League completed its first season without an entry from the five-year-old state. In the championship game, TPS Turku of Helsinki, Finland, beat Dynamo Moscow 5-2. Perhaps Kyiv Sokil is simply saving itself some embarrassment.

The league plans to hold a "Super Cup" competition in September against a National Hockey League team that has yet to be named, and hopes to draw the (NHL minor system) American Hockey League into a planned expansion.

- Compiled by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj.

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