March 6, 2015

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Biathlon

• Serhiy Semenov won a bronze medal in the men’s 20-kilometer individual race at the World Cup Biathlon 8 in Holmenkollen, Norway, on February 12-14. Juliya Dzhyma and Iryna Varvynets won six and seventh place, respectively, in the women’s 15-kilometer individual competition. Ukraine’s women’s 4×6-kilometer relay team finished in sixth place and Ukraine’s men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay team finished in seventh place.

• At the IBU Biathlon 6 in Brezno-Osriblie, Slovakia on February 6-8, Dmytro Rusinov won eighth place in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint and ninth place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit. Nastassia Kalina won ninth place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit.

• Ukraine’s mixed single relay team of Juliya Dzhyma and Artem Tyshchenko won third place in the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 7 in Nove Misto, the Czech Republic, on February 5-8. Ukraine’s mixed 2×6-kilometer+2×7.5-kilometer team – Iryna Varvynets, Valj Semerenko, Dmytro Pidruchnyi and Serhiy Semenov – also won third place in the mixed relay. Semerenko won sixth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint. Semenov won eighth place in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint; in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit, Dzyma won seventh place and Semerenko finished in ninth place; and in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit, Serhiy Semenov finished in fourth place.

• Ukraine’s women’s relay team – Juliya Dzhyma, Natalya Burgyda, Valj Semerenko and Iryna Varvynets – won first place in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay at the IBU Open European Championships on January 27-February 3 in Otepaa, Estonia. Ukraine’s 4×7.5-kilometer men’s relay team – Artem Tyshchenko, Serhiy Semenov, Artem Pryma and Dmytro Pidruchnyi – won second place. Varvynets won second place in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit and eighth in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint; Dzhyma finished in 10th place in the 7.5-kilometer sprint and ninth in the women’s 15-kilometer individual; and Semenov finished ninth in the men’s 10-kilometer sprint and second in the men’s 20-kilometer individual (Tyshchenko finished in sixth place).

• Valj Semerenko finished in fourth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 5 in Ruhpolding, Germany, on January 14-18. In the 4×6-kilometer women’s relay, Ukraine’s team – Anastasiya Merkushyna, Natalya Burdyga, Olga Abramova and Semerenko – finished in fifth place. Semerenko also finished in fourth place in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start.

• Ukraine’s women’s team – Juliya Dzhyma, Natalya Burdyga, Olga Abramova and Valj Semerenko – won third place in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 6 in Antholz-Aterselva, Italy, on January 21-25. Dmytro Pidruchnyi finished in ninth place in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit

Fencing

• Ukraine’s Olga Kharlan won third place at the 10th annual Yves Basseur World Cup in Women’s Saber on February 22 in Ghent, Belgium. Along the way, Kharlan defeated Jiveon Kim of South Korea 15-14, but lost to Sofiya Velykaya of Russia in the semifinal, 13-15. Velykaya won first place against Mariel Zagunis of the U.S.A. in the final 15-10. In the team competition, Ukraine (Olha Kharlan, Olha Zhovnir, Alyna Komashchuk and Olena Kravatska) finished in ninth place out of 20 teams, behind Germany and ahead of China. Italy won 45-40 against France in the final and the U.S.A. won third place after defeating Russia 45-30. Ukraine lost to Germany 45-40 in the Round of 16, and won the next three rounds: 25-28 against Japan, 45-32 against Mexico and 45-33 against China.

• Ukraine’s women’s team – Anfisa Pochkalova, Yana Shemyakina, Kseniya Pantelyeyeva – finished in ninth place at the Jockey Club Argentina International Tournament on February 15 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ukraine won its opening match against the host, Argentina, 45-29 and lost to Estonia 37-45. Ukraine battled for ninth place with a 45-33 win over Venezuela, followed by a 45-44 win over Sweden and a 41-40 win against China. Italy won the tournament final against Romania 30-26, and Germany won against Russia 31-29 for third place. In the individual competition on February 13-14, Shemyakina finished in 17th place.

• Ukraine’s men’s epee team – Anatoliy Herey, Dmytro Karuchenko, Maksym Khvorost and Bohdan Nikishin – won silver at the Peter Bakonyi World Cup tournament in Vancouver, British Columbia, on February 15. Ukraine had a bye in the first round and won 45-30 against Argentina, won 39-38 against the U.S.A. in the quarterfinals and won 31-30 against France in the semifinal. Ukraine lost in the final 45-41 against Switzerland. The tournament included competitors from 23 countries.

• Epee swordsman Maksym Khvorost finished in eighth place at the Peter Bakonyi World Cup tournament on February 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Khvorost won 15-11 against Adam Maczik of the U.S.A. in the first round, and won 15-12 against Geza Imre of Hungary, 15-9 against Andras Redli of Hungary, 15-13 against Benjamin Steffen of Switzerland, and 15-12 win over Gabriele Cimini of Italy. But the luck ran out after a 15-12 loss to Ronana Gustin of France.

• Ukraine’s women’s saber team – Olha Kharlan, Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska and Olha Zhovnir – won first place at the World Cup in Athens on February 2. This win boosted Ukraine’s team standings from fifth place to third in worldwide rankings. Along the way to first place, Ukraine won 45-33 against Japan, and 45-34 against Italy, won 45-44 in the semifinal against the U.S.A. and won 45-35 in the final against Russia.

• Andriy Yahodko won silver at the world cup of fencing for men’s saber in Padua, Italy, on January 30-31. Yahodka won 15-10 against Darrel Homer of the U.S.A, 15-12 against countryman Dmytro Pundyk, 15-10 against Luke Curatolli of Italy and 15-13 against Aleksandr Buykyevich of Belarus. In the semifinal, Yahodko won 15-6 against Kim Junghuan of South Korea; in the final he lost to Kambil Ibragimov of Russia 11-15.

• Ukraine’s foil team – Anastasiya Derevyanko, Olga Diachenko and Anna Taranenko – finished in fifth place (out of 14 teams) at the European Fencing Cadet Championships in Poznan, Poland, on January 23-25.  In individual competition, Derevyanko finished in 12th place, after defeating Madeleine Whitfield of Great Britain 15-13, Derevyanko defeated Mariana Pistola of Brazil 15-9 and won against Viktoria Kralikova of Slovakia 15-7. The streak ended with a 8-15 loss against Janka Hoth of Hugnary. Derevyanko lost 4-15 against Nora Hajas of Hungary in the relegated round. In the team competition, Poland defeated Ukraine 39-38 in the quarterfinals. In the fifth-place match, Ukraine defeated Belarus 39-29.

• Yana Shemyakina tied for bronze with Violetta Kolobova of Russia at the fencing world cup on January 23-25 in Barcelona, Spain. Shemyakina won 15-13 against Ricarda Multerer of Germany, and in the semifinal lost to Ank Ksu of China 13-12. In the team competition on January 25, Ukraine – Shemyakina, Anfisa Polchakova, Anastasiya Ivchenko and Feybi Bezhury – finished in eighth place.  Ukraine won 45-42 against Finland, 41-40 against the U.S.A., and lost to Italy 45-22. And in the race for fifth to eighth place, Ukraine lost against France 40-45 and against Switzerland 44-45.

• Ukraine’s cadet fencers in foil and epee competed at the European Fencing Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia, on January 24-25. The tournament featured men’s individual epee and foil as well as women’s individual epee and men’s team foil. Ukraine’s men’s foil team – Maksym Haravskyi, Tymur Oliynychuk, Yaroslav Hayduk and Vitaliy Pavlenko – finished in fifth place (out of 19 teams) after Denmark forfeited the match.  In men’s individual foil, Haravskyi won 15-11 against Noe Mandigou Robin of France and 15-10 against Nick Itkin of the U.S.A.; he lost to Benoit Hecher of France 13-15 in the quarterfinal.  Haravskyi finished in seventh place out of 198 fencers.

Basketball

• The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) denied reports that Crimean clubs would be allowed to join the Russian league since Russia’s sham annexation of the Crimean peninsula. “FIBA is aware of the political turmoil affecting the regions of Crimea and Sevastopol and the possible consequence on basketball competitions in these regions,” a FIBA spokesperson said. “We are in contact with both National Basketball Federations of Ukraine and Russia and encourage them to jointly reach a satisfactory solution to ensure that basketball is least affected by the political situation. FIBA can confirm that no decision has been taken at this stage, but we will make sure to communicate any progress in this mater.”

Olympics

• Serhiy Bubka, who is vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations,  announced on January 29 his intention of challenging Britain’s Sebastian Coe for the presidency of the IAAF. The current IAAF president, Lamine Diack, 81, has been president since 1999 and is set to retire this year. The vote is to take place at the IAAF Congress in Beijing. Bubka was re-elected as president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine on November 24, 2014, for his third consecutive four-year term.  The sole candidate for the position, Bubka received 108 votes in favor and one against at the 29th General Assembly of the National Olympic Committee in Kyiv.

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