Recently, the Ukraine beach soccer team participated in a mini-tournament in memory of Yevgeny Ryabchuk, which took place at the capital's Hydro Park. The blue and yellow team secured third place by defeating Kyiv's "Servit" 14-4 in an entertaining final match. Yuri Shcheritsya was the hero of the game, scoring a pentatric. It should be noted that the tournament winner was the "Zhytiyevi Druzi" (Friends of Zhenya) team, which defeated Kyiv's "Alternativa" 8-3 in the final match.

The future plans for Ukraine's beach soccer national team were shared by its coach Mykola Kostenko.

"Our first task is to obtain permission for the team to travel abroad at the end of June - beginning of July for the Euroleague qualifier. As you know, there are currently restrictions on crossing borders for men aged 18-60 in our country. Reaching the Superfinal is key to qualifying for the European Games 2023 in Krakow.

Then at the end of August we have a qualifier for the World Beach Games 2023, and then in September - the Euroleague Superfinal, which itself qualifies teams for the European Games. Six teams from our Division A will participate, along with the winner of Division B and Poland as hosts. If Poland reaches the Superfinal, where eight teams compete, only one team from the qualifiers won't go to Krakow.

I can say that the boys are very determined and patriotic. They want to qualify for the European Games and then fight for medals at those competitions. But for all of this to happen, we need to travel to the Euroleague qualifier. If this doesn't work out, we'll lose almost two years. We hope for a positive decision that will allow us to prepare in good spirits for all these tournaments. We won't change anything in our preparation - training will continue at Hydro Park," said Mykola Kostenko.

Thus, our team will continue preparing for the Euroleague 2022 qualifier taking place from June 30 to July 3 in Nazaré, Portugal. If successful, Mikola Kostenko's protégés will reach the Euroleague Superfinal which will take place in Italy (September 6-9). The Superfinal is also a qualifying tournament for the European Games 2023 in Krakow.

Also this summer, Ukraine's national team has a qualifier for the World Beach Games 2023 under the auspices of the International Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), which will take place in Catania, Italy.