The 11th international squash championship “Zenit Black Sea Open 2021â€Â took place in Odessa. It was the largest international squash tournament since the independence of Ukraine.
The competition was attended by players from Australia, Belarus, Germany, England, Wales, Egypt, Moldova, Romania and the US, as well as Ukrainians from Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkov, Dnipro, Khmelnytsky, Poltava, Kherson and Odessa.
The winner in the PRO category among men (the main category of the tournament) was squash player from Egypt Ahmed Mohamed, and among women in the PRO category the first place was taken by Anastasiya Kostiukova from Ukraine.
The tournament had been held for four days on the courts of the SPORT LIFE fitness center.
The organisers of the tournament, Dmytro Scherbakov and Maksim Urakin, previously stated the need to popularize squash in particular and sports in general through organizing tournaments and attracting Ukrainian business to support sports. The main goal of the tournament, according to the organizers, was to strengthen sports and cultural ties between the countries and sports players, to popularize and develop squash in Ukraine, as well as to improve the skill level of young squash players.
Some 150 participants competed for awards in eight categories. The winners of the competition became:
Men (PRO Category):
- First place – Ahmed Mohamed (Egypt);
- Second place – Clegg David (Australia);
- Third place – Dmytro Scherbakov Jr. (Ukraine).
Women (PRO Category):
- First place – Anastasiya Kostiukova (Ukraine);
- Second place – Sofiya Zrazhevska (Ukraine);
- Third place – Olga Khmelevskaya (Belarus).
Men (Amateurs category):
- First place – Oleksiy Alekseyenko (Ukraine);
- Second place – Jack Lake (England);
- Third place – Yevhen Popko (Ukraine).
Men (Category 40+):
- First place – Kostiantyn Rybalchenko (Ukraine);
- Second place – Tymofiy Zheludkov (Ukraine);
- Third place – Thornton Ben (England).
Men (Category 45+):
- First place – Viktor Kovalchuk (Ukraine);
- Second place – Oleksandr Kostevych (Ukraine);
- Third place – Dmytro Baluta (Ukraine).
Women (Amateurs category):
- First place – Olha Zadorozhna (Ukraine);
- Second place – Maryana Batrshina (Ukraine);
- Third place – Valentyna Khomovska (Ukraine).
Youth tournament (Category BU-15):
- First place – Roman Shkarupylo (Ukraine);
- Second place – Artem Panchenko (Ukraine);
- Third place – Danylo Kuryliak (Ukraine).
Category GU-15:
- First place – Anastasiya Krykun (Ukraine);
- Second place – Yelyzaveta Suprun (Ukraine);
- Third place – Khrystyna Beheba (Ukraine).
