Kabaeva will miss the European Championships

Chronicle of sporting events

Russian Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva will miss the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships starting on June 29 in Baku. The reason for this was the exacerbation of an old injury associated with damage to the knee ligaments. The head coach of the Russian team, Irina Viner, did not hide the fact that even in this condition, Kabaeva was able to perform in the capital of Azerbaijan, but the athlete and coach decided not to take risks and save their strength before the World Championships, which will be held in Patras, Greece, on September 17-23. Kabaeva is currently undergoing treatment in one of the capital’s clinics.

Kabaeva’s place in the national team will be taken by Evgenia Kanaeva. This season she has already distinguished herself at the World Cup in Corbeil-Essonne, France, winning the all-around. Let us remind you that each participating country can enter no more than three athletes at the European Championships. Thus, the Russian trio will consist of Evgenia Kanaeva, 2006 European champion Vera Sesina and 2005 world champion Olga Kapranova. By the way, two years ago at the World Championships in Baku, Kapranova won five gold medals.

The Freestyle Wrestling World Cup will be held in Vladikavkaz

For the first time in the history of freestyle wrestling, the World Cup will be held in Vladikavkaz next year. This was officially announced by the press service of the Russian Olympic Committee. According to ROC President Leonid Tyagachev, this decision was made in recognition of the outstanding merits of Ossetian wrestlers. “Ossetian athletes and coaches are an integral part of the multinational Russian national team and the Russian Olympic movement. Their successes are the foundation of our country’s strong position in the international arena,” said the head of the ROC. Olesya KOMAROVA

Our divers won two medals

At the Grand Prix in diving that ended in Rostock, Germany, Russian athletes won two medals - silver and bronze. Dmitry Sautin and Yuri Kunakov took second in the synchronized diving from the three-meter springboard, behind only the Chinese pair He Chong and Wang Fen. “Bronze” went to Konstantin Khanbekov and Oleg Vikulov in synchronized diving from a ten-meter platform. The Chinese duo also excelled at this event. If in the first case the gap between Sautin and Kunakov from the winners was a little more than 16 points, then Khanbekov and Vikulov lost about 60 points to the champions.

Nevertheless, the head coach of the Russian team, Alexey Evangulov, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, generally assessed the performance of his players positively. Let us remind you that at the last stage of the Grand Prix in Rome, the Russians were left without any awards. Olga ERMOLINA

The super tournament has started in Dortmund

The first two rounds of a major category 20 super tournament took place in Dortmund. After them, the Russians Vladimir Kramnik and Evgeniy Alekseev took the lead, scoring 1.5 points each. The first, playing as white, drew the game with Viswanathan Anand, and then, again having the advantage of the first move, beat Boris Gelfand. Alekseev won his game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan and, playing as black, drew with Gelfand, representing Israel. Anand, Leko, Carlsen have one point each; Naiditsch and Gelfand have 0.5 points each.

Meanwhile, in Tallinn, the FIDE Presidential Council determined how the fate of the world crown would be decided. The following formula was developed. If current title holder Vladimir Kramnik wins the World Championship in Mexico, he will be required to play a rematch with Topalov later this year. If someone else becomes the world champion, then he will have to play a rematch with Kramnik in 2008, and the winner of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk will meet with Topalov. Those who win these meetings will compete for the world title in a head-to-head match that year. Konstantin IVANOV

Fedotov got a new job

Former head coach of Spartak Vladimir Fedotov, who was fired a week ago, was not without work for long. Starting tomorrow, Fedotov takes up the position of sports director of the Moscow football club. It is noteworthy that the ex-mentor of the “red-whites” was the sports director at Spartak before taking up the post of head coach. And Vladimir Fedotov was fired from the most titled club in the country after a defeat by the current team - “Moscow”. Andrey VDOVIN

Arsenal have found a replacement for Henry

London Arsenal quickly replenished its ranks after Thierry Henry left for Barcelona. Spanish forward Fernando Torres is expected to sign a contract with the Gunners in the near future. The Spanish Atlético, for which the striker played last season, failed to qualify for European competition, and the Madrid club was forced to part with its main star. It is expected that Arsenal, which managed to beat Liverpool and Manchester United in the fight for Torres, will pay 36 million euros for the striker. In London they hope that the forward will be as productive in the English Premier League as in Spain. The 23-year-old footballer has 82 goals in 212 matches in the national championship and 14 goals in 42 matches for the national team. Konstantin IVANOV

Valuev changed coach

Former WBA world heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev will train under the guidance of new mentor Alexander Zimin, who currently lives in Japan. In the recent past, Zimin was the coach of the Leningrad boxing team, then worked in the national team, and 17 years ago, with his students Yuri Arbachakov and Orzubek Nazarov, he moved to Japan. Zimin is now training the country's bantamweight champion Alexander Bakhtin. The fact that until this moment Zimin had not worked with heavyweights does not confuse Valuev’s coaching staff at all. The former world champion's former coach Manvel Gabrielyan will focus on the boxer's physical training. Olesya KOMAROVA

Olga ERMOLINA