Sports (September)

15 September 2017

Dynamo salvages Champions League exit with Europa League berth

Olympiyskiy Stadium (Velyka Vasylkyivska 55)

14 September (at home) and 28 September (away)

After crashing out of Champions League qualifying – and the minimum €12.7 million that comes with qualifying for the group stage – thanks to a horrific last minute goal to the Young Boys, Kyiv’s beloved Dynamo had to scrape by Portugal’s Maritimo 3-1 on aggregate just to qualify for this season’s Europa League group stage (worth a measly €2.6 million in comparison). The team was drawn into Group B alongside the likes of Partizan (Serbia), Skënderbeu Korçë (Albania), and the same Young Boys (Switzerland) team that knocked them out of the Champions League. Dynamo hosts SkëKor on 14 September before traveling to Belgrade to play Partizan on 28 September.

For more information visit www.fcdynamo.kiev.ua/en

Usyk kicks off World Boxing Super Series in style

WBO cruiserweight champion and 2012 Olympic champion Oleksandr Usyk (13-0-0, 10 KOs) took on Germany’s former WBO champion Marco Huck (40-5-1, 27 KOs) on 9 September as part of the newly-created World Boxing Super Series. The tournament pitted eight of the world’s top cruiserweight fighters into a single-knockout tournament to compete for $50 million in prize money, the Muhammad Ali trophy, and the title of undisputed champion. The 30-year-old southpaw is the favourite and specifically chose Huck. “I am very excited that I am meeting the so-called favourite … already in the first fight”, Huck told ESPN before the fight. “This will definitely be a fight that no fan should miss.” And it was. Though Huck was no pushover, Usyk didn’t have a whole lot of trouble, and he now moves on to fight winner of the 30 September fight between WBC titleholder Mairis Briedis (22-0, 18 KO) and Mike Perez (22-2-1, 14 KO).

For more information visit www.worldboxingsuperseries.com

Budivelnyk in Basketball Champions League

Kyiv Palats Sportu (Sportivna Ploshcha 1)

24 September 24 (away) and 26 September (at home)

After winning Ukraine’s Superleague basketball championship for the tenth time last season, Kyiv’s Budivelnyk has qualified for the Basketball Champion League’s second qualifying round. Budivelnyk will need to defeat the winner of Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo) and Tmolski Minsk (Belarus) in a home-and-away set to play Nanterre 92 (France) on September 29 and October 2 for the chance to qualify for the regular season and its €50,000 reward. Should that happen, Kyiv will play in Group D alongside Sidigas Avellino (Italy), Besiktas Sompo (Turkey), Stelmet Zielona Gora (Poland), Oostende (Belgium), CEZ Nymburk (Czech Republic), Aris (Greece), and one other qualifier.

For more information visit: www.championsleague.basketball