European Team Championship: 2019
The European Team Championship is near
In a few days, one of the most anticipated and exciting events will start - the European Squash Championship among separate teams. In 2019, these competitions will be held in Lisbon (Portugal) from 3 to 6 April.
Recall that the Ukrainian national team finished their performance at the 2018 European Team Championship with a bronze medal and in 2019 they have to fight for a return to the II division. Judging by how our guys have grown during this time, it is believed that we will be able to win this right with ease.
“We play in the third division and hope to get the right to go back to the top level. For this, it is necessary, at least, to leave the group, and for this we have the strength ”.
As part of the national team, the veterans of the Ukrainian squash Konstantin Rybalchenko and Valeriy Fedoruk will defend the honor of the country, and the equally talented Bagan Yaroslav, Pogrebnyak Dmitry and Sikora Artur will take the company of our experienced athletes.
Despite the leading position of our national team, the task still remains the same - to perform as best as possible and take the match for entering the elite of the world squash, withstand games with rivals of the 3rd division and prove their claims to be called one of the most worthy teams.
The men's team in the subgroup will meet with the best athletes from Gibraltar, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The first game against the Liechtenstein team will start on Wednesday 3 April at 12:30. The format of the European Team Championship has not changed - two teams are exchanged between the divisions. Our national team first needs to leave the group in order to avoid a repeated championship in the 3rd division.
However, judging by the current game of each of the squash players, we are quite capable of winning this tournament and aiming to have a comfortable seeding number next year with an eye to reaching the second division.
2019 European Team Championship (Lisbon, Portugal), 03 - 06.04.2019
According to the results of the draw, the Ukrainian men's team got into Group C together with the national teams of Gibraltar, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
Game schedule:
3 april 2019
Ukraine - Liechtenstein
Ukraine - Luxembourg
04 April 2019
Ukraine - Gibraltar
Men:
Group A: Austria, Guernsey, Slovenia, Estonia, Belarus
Group B: Poland, Isle of Man, Malta, Lithuania
Group C: Ukraine, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein
Group D: Russia, Norway, Greece, Romania
The Ukrainian squash team won bronze at the European Team Championship
The men's national team of Ukraine has completed the European Team Championship in the third division with dignity. Even after our guys did not manage to reach the final for places in the 2nd division, they did not give up, but continued to fight to the last. The fantastic victory against the Norwegian national team in the decisive match for the prize place on the fourth day of the championship spoke for itself.
In the first four of the playoffs, which fought for third place in the continental championship, we were undeniably the best. True, the team from Norway tried to stop us in the second match when Trym Aasness came to court. The squashist managed to defeat the second racket of our team Yaroslav Bagan with a score of 3: 0. But then Yaroslav's partners got down to business. And, no matter how hard Sindre S. Roaldsøy and Gard Aasness tried to be cunning on the court, at the decisive moments our Valery Fedoruk and Konstantin Rybalchenko were at their best. The most heated was the last match, where the fourth rackets of their national teams Sikora and Hansen met. It was he who was decisive in determining the owner of the bronze championship cup. The youngest member of our team had a very difficult time. But, in spite of the fact that the guys fought for every point, in the end Arthur nevertheless pushed the opponent and pulled the game to a draw, which already guaranteed us a victory.
As for our team, the 3rd place in this championship is a very good indicator, the guys showed an excellent game. And, most importantly, we gained experience that will certainly help them in the upcoming tournaments. You can be sure that next year, no matter what squad our team is in, it will be able to show a much stronger squash and achieve the right to enter the second division without any reservations.
European Team Championship (3-6 April, Lisbon, Portugal)
Third day 5 April
Play-off
Match for 1st-8th place
Ukraine - Slovenia - 4:0
Valeriy Fedoruk - Martin Mosnik, 3:0 (11-7, 11-6 , 11-5)
Yaroslav Bagan - Mark Hafner, 3:1 (11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7)
Konstantin Rybalchenko - Blaž Porenta 3:0 (11-6, 11- 3, 11-8)
Artur Sikora - Jošt Dolinar 3:0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-5)
Match for 1-8 place
Ukraine - Poland - 1:2
Valery Fedoruk - Adam Pelczynski, 3:1 ( 11-3, 5-11, 11-6, 11-3)
Yaroslav Bagan - Adrian Marszał 0:3 (4-11, 4-11, 2-11)
Konstantin Rybalchenko - Piotr Hemmerling 2:2 (11-4, 5-11, 17-15, 8-11)
Artur Sikora - Filip Jarota 0:3 (8-11, 9-11, 9-11)
Match for 3rd place
Ukraine - Norway - 2:1
Valeriy Fedoruk - Sindre S. Roaldsøy 3:0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-4)
Yaroslav Bagan - Trym Aasness 0:3 (7-11, 3-11, 8-11)
Konstantin Rybalchenko - Gard Aasness 3:0 (12-10 , 11-7, 11-5)
Arthur Sikora - Patrick Hansen 2:2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8)
Final position
Poland
Austria
Ukraine
Norway
Russia
Luxembourg
Slovenia
Malta
At the end of the tournament, two teams that were initially considered one of the favorites of this championship - Poland and Austria - will enter the second division. Ukraine and Norway fought for the bronze medals much more powerfully - even if this did not mean entering a tournament of a higher rank, they still wanted to return home with medals on their chest.
