Chronicle

Ukhov was “released” from the national team

High jumper Ivan Ukhov, winner of the international tournament “Russian Winter”, where he again showed the best result of the season in the world (235 cm), trains separately from the Russian athletics team using his own funds earned earlier. The athlete’s personal trainer, Olympic champion Sergei Klyugin, told a Vremya Novostey correspondent about this. “For now they asked us to be released from the national team. So we are not on a team, but on our own,” Klyugin explained. The coach also emphasized that his ward has great potential and they expect good results in the future. The Klyugin-Ukhov tandem plans to compete at the European Winter Championships and the Summer World Championships. True, provided that Ukhov can again get into the national team. “The main task we set for ourselves is to jump for fun. This is both my and Ivan’s motto. We just want to show what we can. We don’t want to be constrained or force ourselves into any kind of framework,” Klyugin said. However, such a broad position apparently does not find understanding among the ARAF leadership.

Before this season, Ukhov trained in Evgeniy Zagorulko’s group. However, as the athlete’s current mentor noted, two bears do not get along in the same den. The fact that Zagorulko’s student Andrei Silnov won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing hit Ukhov’s pride. This may explain why he started looking for a new coach in the offseason. Although formally both Klyugin and Ukhov are Zagorulko’s students and they still all work in the same team.

Klyugin refused to comment on the incident last season, when at a tournament in Lausanne Ivan Ukhov entered the jumping section while drunk, citing the fact that the athlete did not want to stir up dirty laundry and “closed himself.” Nevertheless, Klyugin did not deny that such a line of behavior could negatively affect his student’s results. “But we are working on this and will find a way out,” Klyugin reassured.

Andreev and Yuzhny lost at the tournament in Zagreb

Two Russian tennis players suffered defeats in the opening round of the tournament in Zagreb. The main surprise for the organizers was the defeat of the number one seed, Igor Andreev. In two sets, the Muscovite lost to the Croatian Ivan Dodig - 1:6, 4:6, who made it into the main draw through qualification and made five double faults in the confrontation with the Russian. Earlier, Mikhail Youzhny lost to compatriot Teimuraz Gabashvili - 3:6, 4:6.

Bryant breaks Madison Square Garden record

Basketball. NBA. Regular season. “Orlando” – “Dallas” – 95:105, “Miami” – “Clippers” – 119:95, “New Orleans” – “Portland” – 89:97, “Utah” – “ Charlotte - 105:86, Washington - Memphis - 97:113, New York - Lakers - 117:126, Phoenix - Sacramento - 129: 81, Golden State -- San Antonio -- 105:110 (OT).

Lakers leader Kobe Bryant, scoring 61 (!) points, set a scoring record not only for the current championship, but also for the entire existence of the legendary New York arena, Madison Square Garden. The previous achievement belonged to the home team's player Bernard King (60 points) and was set at Christmas 1984. Madison Square Garden has undergone significant renovations several times, and the previous record for the sports facility in its current form (Garden IV) was held by Michael Jordan (55 points). As for Bryant, he surpassed fifty points scored in a game for the 24th time in his career. In the meeting with New York, Kobe made three out of six long-range shots, made 16 hits out of 28 attempts from close and medium distances, and accurately hit all 20 free throws. The super-scorer's teammate, the 2006 world champion, Spaniard Pau Gasol, brought the “residents of the Lake District” 31 points.

The World Alpine Ski Championships have started

The World Alpine Ski Championships kicked off with women's super-G competitions on the slopes of the French resort of Val d'Isere. The first winner was the leader of the overall World Cup standings, American Lindsay Vonn. The silver medalist, Frenchwoman Marie Marchand-Arvier, lost 0.34 seconds to the US representative, by another 0.06 seconds. Austrian Andrea Fischbacher covered the distance slower.

Alas, there were no Russians among the 56 participants. Apparently, the leaders of the national federation considered that none of our girls were able to compete even for places other than the very last ones, with athletes from Chile, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Hungary or Andorra.

Langenbrunner is the best player of the month

Hockey. NHL. Regular season. “Detroit” – “St. Louis” – 4:3 (bullet) – Datsyuk “D” (0+1) , “Anaheim” – “Buffalo” – 3:2, “Colorado” – “Calgary” – 4:3.

Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk failed to convert the shootout in the post-match series. Five of the six goals in regulation time in the match between the Red Wings and St. Louis were scored within 9 minutes. second period.

The league named the best players of January. The strongest hockey player of the first month of the year was New Jersey forward Jamie Langenbrunner. His team had a streak of eight wins in a row, and the hockey player himself scored 17 (9+8) points in the scoring classification using the “goal plus pass” system. The second star of January was Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer, and the third was Buffalo goalkeeper Ryan Miller.

Prepared by Olga ERMOLINA, Ilya TRISVIATSKY