Translated material
Week calendar
The head coach of the Russian national team, Vyacheslav Bykov, and his closest assistant, Igor Zakharkin, chose the following players to perform in Sweden (22 hockey players in total): goalkeepers - Barulin (CSKA), Eremenko (Salavat Yulaev, Ufa); defenders - Vishnevsky, Guskov (both Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl), Kulyash, Korneev, Kondratyev (all CSKA), Nikulin, Emelin (both Ak Bars, Kazan), Zhitnik (Dynamo, Moscow); forwards - Saprykin, Schastlivy, Suglobov (all CSKA), Badyukov (Ak Bars), Radulov, Taratukhin, Perezhogin (all Salavat Yulaev), Mikhnov (Lokomotiv), Afanasenkov, Nepryaev (both -- Dynamo), Kvasha (Traktor, Chelyabinsk), Rybin (Spartak, Moscow).
Initially, the national team included Salavat Yulaev defender Dmitry Vorobyov and St. Petersburg SKA forward Konstantin Gorovikov, but due to health reasons they were replaced by Zhitnik and Badyukov.
Tournament schedule: February 5. Czech Republic - Finland (match in the Czech Republic), Sweden - Russia. February 7. Russia - Finland, Czech Republic - Sweden. February 8. Czech Republic - Russia, Sweden - Finland. Our team starts its matches at 21.30 Moscow time (Thursday) and 14.00 (weekend). The position of the teams in the Eurotour after two stages (six matches played): Russia - 17 points, Czech Republic - 8, Finland - 7, Sweden - 4. The fourth stage will take place in April in the Czech Republic.
In the KHL championship, only one match will be played per week. Tomorrow Lada and Metallurg Mg meet.
TENNIS. February 7-8. Federation Cup. Quarterfinals . ATP tournaments. Category 250 . Viña del Mar (Chile), Zagreb (Croatia), Johannesburg (South Africa).
Immediately after the end of the Australian Open, many of the world's leading tennis players head to their national teams. The captain of the Russian team, Shamil Tarpishchev, invited Elena Dementyeva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anna Chakvetadze and, for the first time, Alisa Kleybanova, who defeated the former world ranking leader, Serbian Ana Ivanovich, to the match with China. The meeting with the team from the Middle Kingdom will take place on the hard court of the capital's Olimpiysky sports complex. We remind you of the format: Saturday - two singles, Sunday - two singles plus a doubles combination.
The remaining matches of the first World Group: France - Italy (Orleans, hard, indoor court), USA - Argentina (Surprise, Arizona, hard, outdoor court), Czech Republic - Spain (Brno, synthetic, indoor court).
BASKETBALL. February 3. European Cup. 2nd group stage, 2nd round. February 4. FIBA Women's Euroleague. 1/8 finals. The third matches of the series up to two victories . February 4-5. Euroleague ULEB. "Top 16". 2nd round .
CSKA began the second group stage of the ULEB Euroleague with an away victory over the Turkish Fenerbahce. In Istanbul, the “red-blues” were noticeably stronger - 66:48 in the presence of 8,500 spectators. By the big break, the guests had secured a 16-point advantage. The next opponent is the Croatian “Cibona”. The team of Italian specialist Ettore Messina will host the Zagreb club on Wednesday.
In the second most important European Cup, three Russian teams are fighting for the trophy. Khimki and UNICS Kazan lost their first round matches. Matches on February 3: Khimki - Dynamo M, UNICS - Turk Telekom (Türkiye).
Six games this week will take place in Division A of the Men's Super League. Wednesday: “Yenisey” - “Spartak-Primorye”. Friday: "Spartak" St. Petersburg - "University-Ugra", "CSK VVS-Samara" - "Khimki", "Lokomotiv-Rostov" - "Triumph", "Ural Great" - "Dynamo" M. Saturday : CSKA - "Yenisei".
VOLLEYBALL. February 4, 7--8. Super League. Men. 16--17th rounds . Women. 13--14th rounds .
Since last weekend was busy with the All-Star Game of the Men's Super League in Surgut, two rounds will take place this week. February 4. "Metalloinvest" - "Zenit", "Iskra" - "Lokomotiv" NS, "Dynamo" M - "Lokomotiv-Belogorye", NOVA - "Ural", "Yugra-Samotlor" - "Fakel", " Yaroslavich" - "Gazprom-Yugra". February 7. "Lokomotiv" Ns - "Zenit", "Yaroslavich" - "Metalloinvest", "Gazprom-Ugra" - "Ugra-Samotlor", "Fakel" - NOVA, "Ural" - "Dynamo" M, " Lokomotiv-Belogorye" - "Iskra". The most difficult schedule these days is for the Belgorod “railroad workers”, because they will have to play against the current champion and silver medal winner. After a series of four defeats in November-December, the Belgorod team won four victories in a row, all with a score of 3:0. The position of the tournament leaders is as follows: Iskra - 36 points (12 wins - 3 losses), Dynamo M - 35 (11--4), Fakel - 31 (12--3), Zenit » -- 31 (10--5).
CYCLE HIGHWAY, February 2-6. Multi-day road race "Tour of Qatar" .
The race is not included in the Pro Tour calendar, but in terms of the composition of participants it is a rather serious competition. Last season, the famous Belgian Tom Boonen won the general classification here, and is now defending the title with Quick Step. Many teams of the elite division are taking part in the current race, including the Russian Katyusha. Based on the results of the first start of the season at the week-long Tour Down Under series “Pro Tour” in Australia, “Katyusha” took the last, 19th place in the team classification.
PROFESSIONAL BOXING. February 7. Fight for the WBA world heavyweight title. Ruslan Chagaev (Uzbekistan) -- Carl Davis Drumond (Costa Rica). Rostock (Germany).
Chagaev already held the WBA title when he defeated Nikolai Valuev on points in April 2007. The Uzbek boxer had 26 fights in the professional ring and won 25, including 17 times by knockout. In one of the fights in 2005, a draw was recorded.
SPRINGBOARD JUMPING. February 6-8. World Cup stage. Willingen (Germany). Springboard HS145. Qualifications will take place on Friday, and individual and team tournaments will take place in the next two days.
NORTHERN BIATHLON. February 7-8. World Cup stage. Seefeld (Austria).
MOUNTAIN SKIING. February 3-8. World Championship. Val d'Isere (France).
In this sport, world championships are held every two years. The tournament will last until February 15. Schedule of official starts for the week: February 3 - super-G (women), February 4 - super-G (men), February 6 - super combined (women), February 7 - downhill (men), February 8 - downhill ( women). Representatives of the Russian national team do not have the slightest, even theoretical, chance of winning at least one medal of any value.
SKATES. February 7-8. World Classic All-Around Championships. Hamar (Norway).
This tournament is annual. The current champions are the Dutch Sven Kramer and Pauline van Deutekom.
FREESTYLE. February 6-7. World Cup stage. Cypress (Canada). Ski cross, moguls, acrobatic jumps .
SNOWBOARD. February 5-7. World Cup stage. Bardonecchia (Italy).
BOBSLED. February 6-7. World Cup stage. Whistler (Canada).