EHF EURO Croatia 2018 Official Magazine

Belarus booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from
Qualification Group 2 where they finished first ahead of Serbia,
Romania and Poland.
BEST
7
Matskevich
Yurynok
Karalek
Rutenka
Kulesh
Pukhouski
Shylovich
IOURI CHEVTSOV
Head Coach
Iouri Chevtsov has been Belarus head coach since
2009, after his own successful playing career for SKA
(1977-1991) and one season in Germany with Blau-
Weiss Spandau. It was in Germany that Chevtsov
started his coaching career, working with the likes of
TUSEM Essen and Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
While playing for the USSR, Chevtsov became world
champion in 1982 and won Olympic gold in 1988. As a
player, he was champion of the USSR six times between
1981 and 1989, three-time winner of the European
Champions’ Cup (1987, 1989, 1990), two-time winner
of the Cup Winners’ Cup (1983, 1988), and Super Cup
champion in 1989.
As a coach of German clubs, he claimed the national
title and the German Cup in 1997, along with the EHF
Cup in 2005.
Chevtsov has led Belarus at three World Championships.
He was also at the helm at the EHF EURO 2014 and
2016.
ARTSEM KARALEK
Key Player
Karalek is without doubt one of the most promising
line players of today. He is only 21 years old and after
two years with Saint Raphael in France he will join
Kielce in Poland next season.
He is strong, 190 cm tall, with amazing scoring abilities.
Karalek started in Grodno and already at the age of
18 left for SKA Minsk. Good outings in Minsk earned
him a national team invitation as he made his debut at
the EHF EURO in Poland. After that he left for France
and is now at only 21 years of age his country’s most
important player.
He is the centre of everything, gives an additional
dimension to an attack full of great shooters and
is valuable in defence too. He is one of the biggest
reasons for Belarus to be optimistic ahead of the EHF
EURO. He has just started and his time is yet to come.
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