Ukrainian Table Hockey Team Becomes European Champion for the First Time
The Ukrainian national table hockey team has won the European Championship for the first time in history, claiming the title in the most prestigious team category - Open Teams, at the European Championship in Latvia. This achievement was reported by the Ukrainian Table Hockey Federation.
In the tournament final, the Ukrainian team defeated the main favourites, Latvia, where table hockey is an official sport supported at the state level.
"Our main team on the second day of the championship, in the 5-on-5 game, managed to win 'gold' for the first time in many years of rivalry with the Latvian team. The main series of matches ended in a draw, 11:11, and the outcome was decided by an additional match between the team captains. Oleksii Korabel won it with a score of 2:1," the statement said.
Ukrainian Anna Ivantsova also became the European champion, competing in the individual women's category.
"For almost 20 years, the Ukrainian team has been participating in European championships, and it has become customary to see our winners with gold medals on the podium in various categories. Except for the individual women's and overall team categories. And at Euro-2024, we managed to secure these two previously unattainable championship titles!" reported the Ukrainian Table Hockey Federation.
It was noted that Anna Ivantsova achieved the nearly impossible by defeating the strongest players from Latvia and Estonia, winning the gold medal in the individual women's category of the competition.
The Ukrainian Table Hockey Federation also reported significant support and friendly attitude from Latvian spectators towards the Ukrainian team.
"The team spirit of our national team played a crucial role in the game on foreign soil against the tournament hosts, where at times the atmosphere in the final felt as if Ukraine were playing at home, not Latvia," the Federation noted.
Recall that The Gaze recently covered the first victories, sensations, and records at the European Football Championship currently taking place in Germany.