Ukraine willing to take next step

By hosting the 15th Turchin Cup from 22 to 25 November, the Ukraine showcased its ability to stage major handball events.

EHF President Jean Brihault had flown to Kiev and met with Ravil Safiullin, Head of State Service of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, as well as Valeriy Tretyakov, the President of the Ukrainian Handball Federation, during the event.

Together they discussed possibilities of developing and improving handball in the Ukraine as well as the possibility to potentially bid for the Women's EHF EURO 2018.

Jean Brihault praised the reputation that Ukrainian handball still has in Europe and expressed his support for the country's plans saying that 'it could be a great step forward for the sport in Ukraine.'

On the actual sports note, the women's national teams from Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine and FYR Macedonia welcomed the opportunity to test themselves a mere week out of the start of the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia.

The women's national team from the Netherlands completed the line-up as for the first time six nations took part in the Turchin Cup.

And it became Hungary that proved the strongest, beating Netherlands 29:22 in the final.

Russia came third ahead of Ukraine, Czech Republic and FYR Macedonia.

The 15th Turchin Cup, a tournament in memory of legendary coach Igor Turchin (1936 to 1993), this year also marked the 50th anniversary of Kiev club Spartak.

Between 1962 and 1993 Turchin led Spartak Kiev to 20 national championships in the former USSR and was the mastermind behind a record 13 titles in the European Champions Cup, the predecessor of the Women's EHF Champions League.

Turchin also coached the USSR's women's national team when they won Olympic gold in 1976 and 1980, Olympic bronze in 1988 and came first at the world championships in 1982 and 1986.