Pridnestrovian athletes won about 100 medals of various denominations from January to July 2019. They became winners of European championships, world, international marathons and many other competitions. But besides medals there are two Olympic licenses among the Pridnestrovian athletes` achievements. We made a selection of our athletes` greatest sports achievements in the first half of the year.
Kayaking and Canoeing
One of the most developed sports in our republic is kayaking and canoeing. This year Pridnestrovian rowers took first and second places at the World Championships, which took place in Hungary.
The world championship winner was Alexander Dyachenko - the Tiraspol rowing school trainee. Together with his partner they became the best in a kayak at 200 m distance.
Silver medalist, Vasily Pogreban won in kayak fours at a distance of 1000 m. The athlete is also the Tiraspol rowing school trainee.
Canoeist Kirill Shamshurin won two medals in the second European Games in the Republic of Belarus. A rower took the second place in a single shell at 1000 m distance, losing only a split second to the Pole. Kirill Shamshurin became a bronze medalist in the canoe-deuce at the same distance.
In early September the athlete participated in the pre-Olympic tournament in Tokyo. He became a bronze medalist in a single canoe at 1000 m distance, which can be considered a strong bid for the Olympic Games in 2020.
The young generation also had a success. Vladislav Chebotar won the U-23 Youth European Championship in the Czech Republic. He passed 1000 m distance in a canoe-deuce.
At the Junior U-19 European Championships, silver was won by Danil Vetrov at 500 m distance. In the carriage of a kayak-four he lost to German rowers in less than a second.
Our sport veterans also show high results. This year, four Pridnestrovian rowers took part in the IV European Games of Masters: canoeist Valery Kolesnik and rowers Sergey Sheremet, Victor Minchenkov and Nikolai Gnedin. They won 13 medals in various carriages at 200 and 1000 m distances.
In this sport Pridnestrovians got great results at the European championships. Anna Karpova took third place at the European Championship in rowing in Switzerland. She competed in boat with eight rowers and helmsman.
The Pridnestrovian crew became the bronze medalist at the European Youth Championships in rowing among athletes under 23. Alexander Mashnik, Ivan Korshunov, Kirill Vysotsky-Shestakov and Alexander Bulat competed in the quadruple sculls.
Table Tennis
The third place at the European Table Tennis Championships in Sweden was taken by our para-athlete Dmitry Lavrov. Competitions were held among athletes with orthopedic injuries.
In the quarterfinals, Dmitry Lavrov defeated 3: 1 Thomas Matius from Great Britain. In the semifinals, his competitor was the repeated winner of international tournaments, Andrew Major from Hungary. In an equal fight, Dmitry Lavrov lost 2: 3 and won the bronze of the championship.
Now the athlete is in 12th place in the world ranking. This suggests that Dmitry Lavrov has a very high chance of getting to the Paralympic Games in 2020.
Athletics
The most important achievement of the Pridnestrovian athletics this year is the Olympic license of the international class sport master Liliya Fiskovich. The athlete will compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The athlete was selected for the main sporting events at one of the most prestigious and massive marathons in the world - the London Marathon.
Our athletes participated in the championships of the Balkan countries. Javelin Denis Pikus became a bronze medalist in Bulgaria.
Juliana Dabizha won under-18 championship in a triple jump. All attempts by the athlete were successful, and she became the only participant who handled the 13-meter line.
In the championship under 20 years old, Yana Garaeva showed a successful result. She took silver at 400 m distance with barriers, losing only one tenth of a second to the winner.
Swimming
The best results among Pridnestrovian swimmers this year were shown by the international class master of sports Tatyana Salkutsan. At the World Championships in South Korea, she managed to win the right to participate in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. At the competitions, the athlete swam a distance of 200 m on her back.
Martial Arts
Among the wrestlers, the most successful were representatives of sambo and Greco-Roman wrestling. Sambo athlete Sabina Artemchuk became the silver medalist at the second European Games in Belarus. In the weight category up to 60 kg with a score 0: 1, she lost to the European champion among youth.
Artem Delyanu won two third places at the U-23 European Championship in Serbia and the U-20 European Junior Championship in Spain. In both competitions in Greco-Roman wrestling, the athlete competed in the weight category up to 55 kg.
Dmitry Shulyak became the champion of the Balkan countries in Taekwondo WTF - the Olympic version of this sport. The final fight for the athlete was the hardest, but he snatched the victory with a score of 11:10.
Kickboxing
A trainee of the Tiraspol School of Sports and Wrestling Maxim Kazaku can be called the most titled kickboxer of this year. Since the beginning of 2019, he managed to visit many European and world championships. Twice he became a champion in competitions such as the European Cup Karlovac Open 2019 in Croatia and Worldcup Austrian Classics in Austria. Maxim Kazaku won the bronze at the 24th Best Fighter World Cup in Italy. He won all these awards in the weight category up to 60 kg
Boxing
Pridnestrovian boxers have European awards too. Vladislav Gudz and Daria Kozorez became winners at the Junior U-18 European Championship in Bulgaria. This year the young athlete moved to the youth group, at competitions he competed in the weight category up to 64 kg and won silver. As for the young girl, she managed to won bronze. Daria Kozorez competed in the weight category up to 81 kg.
Mikhail Tsaranu won bronze at the Youth European Boxing Championship in Romania. In the weight category up to 48 kg in the semifinal match he lost to the Ukraine representative.
Irina Chubova got a perfect score at the European Boxing Championship among schoolchildren in Georgia. The athlete had three matches in the weight category up to 54 kg. She lost only the final fight and won the silver of the championship.
Checkers
A whole bunch of medals this year were brought by the Pridnestrovian checkers player. They won all the awards at the European and World Championships in Bulgaria.
European Championship U-27 was successful for Christina Zaruba. In such kind as Russian drafts-64, she took three awards: gold in lightning checkers, bronze in fast and classic checkers.
Maxim Dolapchi brought the same set of medals home: first and two third places. He won awards among young athletes under 18 years old.
Anna Shlyakhovskaya brought another bronze to the Pridnestrovie. She won it in the "classics" in Russian drafts-64. The athlete performed in the category of girls under 20 years old.
At the end of August, the same checkers players won the world championship prizes. Kristina Zaruba became the best in lightning checkers and took first place. She performed at the youth world championship in the U-27 group. Anna Shlyakhovskaya won the silver medal in classical drafts at these competitions among girls under 20 years old. In fast drafts, Maxim Dolapchi turned out to be second (category under 16 years old).
Artistic Gymnastics
This year Pridnestrovian Arthur Dalaloyan showed great results at European Championships in artistic gymnastics. The athlete won gold in floor exercises. He competed with a program he had showed at the World Cup.
Anna Turchenko
