SPORTSLINE (04/25/99)

SPORTSLINE

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

FIGURE SKATING

Judging uproar

During the recent world figure skating championships, held in Helsinki, Finland, on March 22-28, the antics of a judge from Ukraine overshadowed the efforts of its on-ice performers.

The International Skating Union (ISU) agreed to review video footage, taken by the Canadian-based CTV network, that showed Ukraine's arbiter Alfred Korytek, 62, broke the sport's judging rules by making eye contact and exchanging nods with his Russian counterpart, Sviatoslav Babenko, during the free skate of the pairs competition on March 24.

On one occasion, the veteran Ukrainian judge was caught on camera looking towards the Russian's foot, who then tapped it twice.

ISU rules state that judges "must mark independently and while judging, they are not permitted to converse with one another or to indicate errors by action or sound."

During the CTV broadcast, commentator Rod Black expressed outrage that Mr. Korytek "nodded noticeably" to Mr. Babenko after Chinese pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo had struck their final pose (they took the silver). He also mentioned the two judges made eye contact after Poles Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Suidek finished their routine (they ended up with the bronze), that Mr. Babenko nodded to Mr. Korytek and, while the latter was looking his direction, tapped his foot.

The offending sequences were replayed on air several times.

Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were awarded gold medals for the second year in a row despite a fall by Ms. Berezhnaya. When the Chinese competitors skated a clean long program and were given second place, the public at the Hartwall Arena crowd booed the result.

According to a March 26 report carried by the Canadian Press (CP), Hely Abbondati of Finland, the panel referee, was given a copy of the video and will report to the ISU technical committee at its next meeting, which is scheduled for the end of April.

ISU Technical Committee Chair Sally-Anne Stapleford of Britain was quoted by the Toronto-based Globe and Mail daily as saying that "judges are told at every meeting to keep their eyes focused ahead and not even appear to be communicating, because they are in full view of television cameras and the general public."

Ms. Stapleford told CP that the case was novel and could not recall a similar incident. The ISU official said: "It doesn't look good. There does appear to have been some kind of communication. We'll study the (referee's) report and make recommendations if we feel that sanctions are required."

However, she said that no fast-track decision that might affect the outcome of the championship was considered. ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta also refused to allow for such a review.

Ukraine's skaters

There was no glaring dividend for Ukraine's competitors in the pairs event, as Yulia Obertas and Dmytro Palamarchuk were ensconced in 11th place throughout qualifying, the short program and the free skate.

In the ice dance event, Olena Hrushina and Ruslan Honcharov showed their characteristically consistent top-10 form, placing eighth throughout the competition - the two compulsories, the original dance and the free skate.

Rookies Tetiana Kurkudym and Yury Kocherzhenko were 25th after the original dance and compulsories, and thus did not qualify for the free skate.

Ukraine's ladies also did their level best to keep their country amid the elite of the sport. Olena Liashenko and Yulia Lavrenchuk finished eighth and ninth overall in the world. Ms. Liashenko was fourth in her qualifying group, which included eventual champion Maria Butyrskaia of Russia. Ms. Lavrenchuk held off a challenge from Russian Viktoria Volchkova to maintain her presence in the top 10.

Dmytro Dmytrenko made a bit of a rebound in his flagging career, endeavoring to fill a void left by the injured Vyacheslav Zahorodniuk. Mr. Dmytrenko qualified sixth in his group, struggled to a 12th place in the short program but stayed focused to finish 11th overall. He was just edged out of the top-10 by the surge of novice Australian sensation Anthony Liu. Yevhen Pliuta was ninth in his group, 14th after the short program and finished 15th after the free skate.

Vitaliy Danylchenko, a new arrival on the scene this year, did not manage to qualify for the final skates, and was classed 31st in the world.

HOCKEY

Under-18 Worlds

Ukraine's under-18 juniors are up against it at the world championships that began for their category in Germany on April 8. Playing in Kaufbeuren (site of a post-war Ukrainian displaced persons' camp) the day after the opening ceremonies, they lost to Switzerland 4-1, then dropped a 6-1 game to the Czech Republic on April 10.

Moving to Füssen for a game against the hosts on April 12, Ukraine's fortunes took a turn for the better. The team prevailed 4-0 with a solid performance in net by Vadym Selevestrov.

On April 13, it was back to Kaufbeuren and back to a harsher reality: a 10-2 drubbing at the hands of the Swedes. Sitting next to last in Group A (ahead of the Germans), outscored 8-20, the Ukrainians are likely to face a relegation game in the next round.

Ukrainian right-winger "Alex" Salaschenko appears on the statistical radar as having scored one of the tournament's six short-handed goals. Ironically, Mr. Salaschenko is also by far the championship's most penalized player, with a total of 33 minutes in the sin-bin, on the strength of having been assessed a five-minute major and a 20-minute major to go with his four minor infractions.

In fact, it appears the Ukrainians are a scrappy bunch. Ranked dead last in the tournament in the "fair play" department, they have been assessed 107 minutes in penalties, an average of 31.75 per game. Defenseman Yevhen Yemelianenko has sat out 16 minutes (for eight minor infractions) and fellow blue-liners Oleksander Pobedonostsev and Roman Shcherbatiuk checked in for 12 and 10 minutes, respectively (all two-minute minors).

Luckily for head coach Serhiy Lubnin's ulcers, Ukraine's penalty killing is adequate, having dealt effectively with 85 percent of their manpower disadvantages, and even (as mentioned above) scoring a goal while a player down.

Proving that statistics are always good for a shock, Ukraine's powerplay in the tournament, at 16.67 percent, has been more efficient than Russia's or Sweden's.

The team's goaltender, Mr. Selevestrov, 18, is doing a reasonable job, given that he has faced an astronomical average of 41.25 shots per game (165 in total), and has made 145 saves. Unfortunately, since his save percentage (87.88) is below 90, he is not likely to steal games from overwhelmingly superior opposition.

A parting weird fact: all of the Ukrainians shoot left (even the goalie).

Those who wish to follow Ukraine's fate on the world's hockey rinks should consult the International Ice Hockey Federation's website at http://www.iihf.net. Coming up: the men's seniors competition that will be held in Lillehammer, Norway, on May 1-16.

BIATHLON

For the record, as the crocuses are joined by tulips and there is nary a snowbank in sight (except in the Rockies, the Prairies and some of the Alps), our winter sport readers will be glad to know that a Ukrainian is world champion in the biathlon, despite the difficulties Ukraine faces in terms of training facilities and the relative brevity of its seasonal freeze.

Olena Zubrilova is actually a double world champion in the sport. During the global cross-country-skiing-and-rifle-shooting meet held February 10-14 in Kontiolahti, Finland, she took gold in the classic and pursuit events.

On February 11, in the 10-kilometer classic event, Ms. Zubrilova was perfect, hitting every target in four rounds of shooting and set a lung-destroying time of 43 minutes 28.1 seconds. Corinne Niograt of France came across the finish line over two minutes later, and Russian Albina Akhatova arrived 3 minutes 13.6 seconds behind. Ukraine's Nagano silver medalist Olena Petrova was fourth, 3:42.1 behind.

In the sprint the next day, Ms. Zubrilova finished fourth (8.3 seconds behind Germany's Martina Zellner), while Ms. Petrova came in 10th (48.9 seconds behind). Nina Lemesh was 16th (1:42 behind).

Ms. Zubrilova's second triumph came in the 10-kilometer pursuit on February 13. She overcame penalties for having missed two targets by setting a blistering pace on the track, and finished with a final time of 32:17.5, a full 1:02 ahead of her nearest rival, Slovakia's Martina Schwarzbacherova. Ms. Zellner was third, another four seconds back. Ms. Petrova finished sixth, 1:43 behind her compatriot, while Nina Lemesh finished 19th, 2:36.4 seconds in arrears.

In the relay, Ukraine performed creditably, but did not take top honors, as it did earlier in the year in Ruhpolding, Germany.

The Germans won the 4 x 7.5-kilometer race in a time of 1 hour, 36 minutes, 56.0 seconds. Ukraine placed fifth, 2:10.9 seconds behind. Ms. Zubrilova was outstanding, posting the day's second best time of 23:39.2 and missed no targets, bested only by Germany's Katrina Appel, who put up a time of 23:05.2. Ms. Petrova also managed a perfect round and a pace of under 25 minutes, but compatriots Ms. Lemesh and Viktoria Rud could not, and this put them behind Norway.

Sportsline is open to Netizens. We can be reached by e-mail: toronto@ukrweekly.com. If you know of the sportish exploits of a Ukrainian athlete, team, coach, or even management type, please let us know. Please provide evidence of any individual's Ukrainian background or history of having played/coached for Ukraine.

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