Shevchenko scored a goal in the replay

Chronicle of sporting events

Foggy Albion hosted replays of two FA Cup quarter-finals, the first matches of which ended in a draw. Chelsea prevailed over Tottenham - 2:1, and the score was opened by forward of the Ukrainian national team Andrey Shevchenko with a magnificent shot to the right of the goalkeeper. Manchester United defeated Middlesbrough 1:0. The only goal was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, who accurately took the 11-meter penalty kick.

The FA Cup is being played for the 126th time. This season, a record number of participants entered the fight for the trophy - 687 teams, including village teams in the literal sense of the word. Including the final match, the tournament consists of 14 rounds. The semi-finals will take place on April 14-15 at neutral venues. Blackburn - Chelsea and Manchester United - Watford are meeting. These teams have already earned £900,000 in prize money. At previous stages, the hosts were determined by drawing lots, and in the event of a draw, the rematch was played on the field of the team that played away in the first meeting. In the semi-finals, if necessary, the winner will be determined in extra time and in a penalty shootout.

Manchester United were frankly lucky with the draw in this draw. Starting from the 1/32 finals, the team played in three rounds in a row at home. In the quarter-finals, Manchester United achieved a draw in Middlesbrough, and secured victory again at the Old Trafford stadium. Moreover, in all four home matches, the Manchester team attracted an audience of more than 70 thousand spectators. The record of the current tournament was recorded in the 1/32 finals: the game between Manchester United and Aston Villa was attended by 74,924 fans. The anti-record was set at the initial stage. The match between Atherton Laburnum Rovers and Parkgate, playing in one of the leagues of the ninth level of the English football pyramid, was watched by 17 people.

The finalists of the Junior Youth League Championship have been determined

The semi-final round of the Children's and Youth Basketball League championship has ended in Kazan and Novosibirsk. A dozen teams, divided into two groups according to the results of the first round, competed for coveted tickets to the final tournament. The fight in both sixes turned out to be truly bright and intense. Suffice it to say that only Khimki performed here without losses: having won five victories in Kazan, the Moscow region basketball players were ahead of their main competitors from CSKA (4 wins - 1 loss) and Dynamo (3--2), who also made it to the decisive stage of DYBL. In Novosibirsk, the three teams continuing to fight for medals were Moscow's RVC (4--1), Perm's Ural-Great and the local Sibirtelecom-Lokomotiv (both had three wins). The final round of the JBL, in which the six above-mentioned teams will take part, will take place in mid-April.

The current Youth League Championship is the sixth in a row. Over the years of its existence, this competition has gained enormous popularity and social significance, largely thanks to the league’s general sponsor, the Lebedyansky holding, whose investments in children’s and youth sports are already bringing results. Suffice it to say that at one time such well-known players as Anton Ponkrashov, Nikita Kurbanov, Nikita Shabalkin, Vitaly Fridzon (all are players of the national team) came out of the DYBL. In addition, it is on the basis of the Junior Youth League that Russian junior national teams are formed, which in recent years have successfully performed on the international stage. Thus, in 2005 and 2006, our men's and women's youth teams alternately became European champions. Vladimir ILYIN

Kramnik became the leader of the tournament in Monaco

At the Amber super tournament held in Monaco, a sole leader appeared. It was world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who demonstrated the art of playing blindfold in three rounds in a row. This time it happened in a crucial match with Alexander Morozevich, a well-known specialist in this game. Let's remember that in last year's Amber, his victory (together with Viswanathan Anand) was predetermined by his overwhelming superiority in blind play. But it seems that in the current “Amber” Kramnik seemed to have returned to the 90s, when the strength and quality of his blind play could be envied by even the sighted. This time, Vladimir's victory with Black was predetermined by the 20th move, but in the rapid chess game he had to hold on until the naked kings (1.5:0.5 in favor of Kramnik).

Levon Aronian, who shared the lead with the world champion, lost blindly to Boris Gelfand, but bounced back in a fast game. The matches Ivanchuk - Anand (Vasily beat Vishy surprisingly easily blindly) and van Wely - Radjabov followed the same scenario. The score was 1:1 in the match between Carlsen and Svidler, where both matches ended in a draw. Peter Leko beat Francisco Vallejo with a score of 1.5:0.5.

After three rounds: Kramnik - 5 points, Aronian - 4.5, Ivanchuk - 4, Anand - 3.5, Morozevich, Gelfand, Svidler, Leko - 3 each, Carlsen - 2.5, Vallejo - - 2, Radjabov - 1.5, van Wely - 1. Oleg STETSKO

San Antonio is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs

Basketball. NBA. Regular season. "Atlanta" - "Sacramento" - 99:76, "New Orleans" - "Boston" - 106:88.

San Antonio became the third team after Dallas and Phoenix to guarantee participation in the playoffs. Moreover, these three clubs play in the Western Conference. In the “East” the situation in the table is more complicated, so not a single participant in the knockout tournament is yet known. “Atlanta” won its fifth consecutive victory on its floor. Georgian Zaza Pachulia scored for the Hawks, scoring 23 points. Ilya TRISVIATSKY

The world figure skating championship has started

The World Figure Skating Championships have started in Tokyo. After performing the short program among sports pairs, Xu Shen and Hongbo Zhao from China are in the lead - 71.07 points. In second place are the representatives of Germany Alena Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (67.65), the top three are closed by another duet from the Middle Kingdom Queen Pan - Jan Ton (66.75). The pair Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, competing under the Russian flag, take fourth position. World champions 2000 Maria Petrova - Alexey Tikhonov skated only 11th result.

In the dance couples competition, after the compulsory dance, Canadians Marie-Franze Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon are in the lead. Our Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin are still third. Vladimir ILYIN

Ilya TRISVIATSKY