Sport in 2020: from Amsterdam to Tokyo
How long will Ukraine play during the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship?
Ukraine's national football team goes to Euro 2020 with a firm intention to qualify from its group where the match against Austria will be decisive. Of course, no one minds Ukraine beating the Netherlands in Amsterdam and winning the group. But the prospects of coming in second and facing a Group A winner (most likely Italy) also do not cross out the chances of Ukraine reaching the quarterfinals.
Success at Euro 2020 will depend on clear communication of manager Andriy Shevchenko's staff with key national team players. The main figures of this team are Pyatov, Stepanenko, Zinchenko, Malinovskyi, Marlos, Yarmolenko, Moraes, Yaremchuk. Among the potential openings of the tournament are Mykolenko, Matviienko, Tsyhankov.
How many medals will Ukraine bring from Tokyo?
The preliminary forecast for Ukraine at the 2020 Summer Olympics is 12-18 medals and a place in the top 20 of the team standings. Ukraine's candidates for gold medals are Daria Bilodid (judo), Olha Kharlan (fencing), Oleg Vernyayev (artistic gymnastics), Yaroslava Mahuchikh (athletics), Zhan Beleniuk (Greco-Roman wrestling), Oleksandr Khyzhniak (boxing).
Ukraine may also win medals in artistic and rhythmic gymnastics (Radivilov, Pakhniuk, Nikolchenko), women's freestyle wrestling (Cherkasova, Livach, Tkach), athletics (Levchenko, Bekh-Romanchuk), swimming (Romanchuk, Hovorov), cycling (Starikova, Basova, Solovei), shooting (Kostevych), diving (Sereda), artistic swimming.
Will we expect new titles from Usyk and Lomachenko?
In 2020, new trials await leading Ukrainian boxers. In April, Vasyl Lomachenko will try to shut the mouth of young American Teofimo Lopez, who has insulted the Ukrainian champion over the past two years. It will be a fight for four lightweight titles.
Oleksandr Usyk can also hold a heavyweight title fight. First, in March, Usyk has to beat Briton Dereck Chisora and in autumn, as a WBO contender, the Ukrainian has every chance of fighting world champion Anthony Joshua of the United Kingdom.
In addition, two more Ukrainian boxers will have championship fights in February: Viktor Postol vs. Jose Carlos Ramirez (the United States) and Artem Dalakian vs. Josber Perez (Venezuela). We also expect Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Serhiy Derevianchenko to hold title bouts.
When will Svitolina win her first Grand Slam title?
"I have big plans for 2020. First of all, I want to win a Grand Slam tournament. Also, I have every opportunity to become the world No.1," Ukraine's top seed Elina Svitolina said, outlining her tasks for the new season. The main condition for achieving this goal is the health of the tennis player. Technically, tactically and mentally, Svitolina is ready for such a victory. So why not win the Australian Open in January and rewrite Ukraine's tennis history?
Nineteen-year-old Dayana Yastremska is also ready for big things. Winning a major tournament and entering the top ten in world rankings are quite realistic plans for the new year. We expect sensational victories and progress from other young stars - Katarina Zavatska, Marta Kostyuk, Daria Lopatetska, and Daria Snigur.
The main confrontations of the year
There is a new leader in world biathlon - Norwegian Johannes Boe. Among those who will try to move him off the top is Johannes's brother, Tarjei Boe, and a group of Frenchmen led by legendary biathlete Martin Fourcade. Among women, this season is still dominated by Dorothea Wierer from Italy. Ukrainian biathletes who can earn big and small victories are Dmytro Pidruchnyi, Olena Pidhrushna, Yuliia Dzhima, Anastasiya Merkushyna, and the Semerenko sisters.
The No. 1 question in football is "Who will stop Liverpool?" Jurgen Klopp's side now has no opponents in the English Premier League, but in the Champions League, those ready to beat the reigning champions are Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern, and even PSG.
We are waiting for the change of power in men's tennis. A new generation led by Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas will try to pension off the old generation (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic).
Finally, everyone waited for a real fight in Formula 1. Everyone is so fed up with Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton that the appearance of incredible Charles Leclerc at Ferrari is seen as a revival of intrigue in royal racing.
Sviatoslav Vasylyk, Kyiv
