Christmas Tournaments
Ukrainian
Maxibasketball players Elena Zhukova from MBC “AMICO” Nikolayev City, Tatiana
Movchan from Kyiv’s “Ladies’ Legion” team, and Tatiana Yasicheva from
“Carpathian Bears” team, Mukachevo took part in the FIMBA Christmas tournament
in Milan on December 24-25, 2018. They played in the united “FIMBA- Europe”
team’s line-up. Also representatives from Germany, Estonia, Russia, Turkey were
in this team. Their rivals were the national teams of Italy, Latvia and Russia.
The level of competition was very solid. United “FIMBA- Europe” team deservedly
won first place.
The
event was attended by FIMBA President Ruben Rodriguez Lamas. The tournament
organizers provided a comfortable atmosphere and all conditions for time to
chat for the participants and guests of honor. In spare time there was a lot of
companionship and excursions around the beautiful Milan. Also at the same time
Elena Zhukova as a member of the FIMBA International Women Committee met with
colleagues to discuss female Maxibasketball development issues.
During
Christmas, fabulously beautiful Milan created a festive atmosphere and a good
mood. The tournament participants were delighted with the sights of Milan such
as: the famed Duomo, one of the largest Gothic churches in Italy with a golden
statue of the Virgin Mary; La Scala Opera House and the theater's museum;
Giuseppe Verdi road, a street lined with antique shops and stores selling
professional products for fine arts.
12th
Christmas tournament took place from January 10 to January 13 of 2019 in
Mukachevo, Ukraine. The tournament was held with the assistance of the Union of
Veterans of Basketball of Ukraine. Ukrainian teams from Odessa, Nikolayev,
Kharkiv, Kyiv, Krivoy Rog, Poltava, Uzhgorod, Lviv, Drohobych, and the teams
from Latvia and Slovakia came to visit the hosts of the tournament in
Mukachevo. Ten women’s teams and ten men’s teams took part in this tournament.
United
Odessa-Nikolayev team competed in F40+ age category with “Carpathian Bears”
(Mukachevo), “Ladies’Legion” (Kyiv), Kharkiv team, Poltava team, and Presov
team from Slovakia. In United Odessa-Nikolayev team, the city of Nikolayev was
represented by Elena Zhukova, Yevgenia Tregubova, Marina Mityayeva and Olga
Bannyh. At this tournament “Carpathian Bears” won the Champion’s title.
“Ladies’ Legion” team earned the 2nd place. Odessa-Nikolayev team ranked third.
Odessa-Nikolayev team’s players were very pleased with the results of the
tournament, as their opponents “Carpathian Bears” (Mukachevo) and
“Ladies’Legion” (Kyiv), were world-class teams. These teams had won medals from
bronze to gold on World and European competitions of higher level. Masters of
Sports, Masters of Sports of International category, Honored Master Masters of
Sports were in the team’s line-up.
After
the end of the tournament’s competitions at the meeting of the Union of
Veterans of Basketball of Ukraine the results of 2018 were summed up, the
calendar of games of 2019 was discussed. The meeting participants noted the
active work of Ukrainian Maxibasketball clubs in 2018 and wished them great
success in the new 2019.
According
to tradition, the hosts of the tournament organized a party for the guests. It
was a real Maxibasketball holiday. Tournament participants were able to chat
with new and old friends from other teams. These were sincere conversations of
friends in a spirit of camaraderie.
One
of the highlights of this tournament was the final round of negotiations of the
Organizing Committee for the creation of the women's united team of Ukraine in
order to successfully participate in the next 15th FIMBA World Maxibasketball
Championship, which would take place from July 25 to August 4, 2019, in
Finland. At the meeting of the Organizing Committee this proposal was approved.
As a FIMBA representative in Ukraine Elena Zhukova registered “Ukraine United”
team in women’s F45+ age division. This was done in advance, because there were
so many teams willing to participate in the World Championship, and it may
happen that not all teams will be able to take part in the event. The
registration process for the World Championship has begun and Ukrainian
organizers have a lot of work with registering participants, booking transport
tickets and booking accommodation. To prepare for the World Cup organizers previously
scheduled the participation of the united team in the tournament in
commemoration of Professor Michael Alexandrov in Nikolayev on April 5-7, 2019
and Kaunas FIMBA World League on April 22-27, 2019.
Now
Ukrainian male and female Maxibasketball has reached the world level. Ukrainian
veterans opened direct path to fulfilling their highest possibilities in World
Maxibasketball movement. Now they are competing on equal with the world's most
elite athletes. They want not just to win, but to be the absolute best and
challenge even the most advanced teams around the world.
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