January: Ukraine’s second championship
The second Ukrainian championship opened the 1992 season at the Shynnyk sports palace in Dnipropetrovsk, now Dnipro. Two competition areas hosted individual and team sparring and patterns. Mykhailo Mizin served as chief umpire.
Teams arrived from Kharkiv, Simferopol, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Luhansk, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Chernihiv and Sevastopol. Each represented a coaching centre built through years of daily training.
- Simferopol: Vladyslav Kim, Iskander Ametov, Anton Kozlov, Andrii Mutiev, Anton Salnykov and Andrii Pyrozhkov; coach Oleksii Zolotavin.
- Kharkiv: Oleksii Korovin, Ihor Artemiev, Anatolii Klipinin and Roman Maslov; coach Volodymyr Dubtsov.
- Luhansk: Andrii Bochkov, Serhii Matviienko, Albert Dunda, Ihor Shumelda and Andrii Cherednychenko; coach Viktor Blekh.
- Dnipropetrovsk: Vladyslav Makarov, Vadym Khafizov, Serhii Andriievskyi, Dmytro Andriievskyi and Borys Malashevych; coach Mykhailo Mizin.
- Kyiv: Ihor Tarasenko, Andrii Nashchynets, Oleksandr Pankov and Dmytro Leikin; coach Viktor Paternak.
Leadership and national selection
The January conference elected Denys Li as federation president and Volodymyr Yehiazarian as vice-president for international relations. Umpire development, accreditation and preparation for the world championship became central tasks. Independent Ukraine needed a team able to represent the country across the principal disciplines.
Selection took place on 16–17 May at Simferopol’s Druzhba sports complex. Athletes competed in individual sparring and patterns on two areas. Sparring winners included Andrii Mutiev, Ihor Tarasenko and Eskender Ametov, with Tamara Hryshchenko and Nataliia Taran among the women’s winners. Mutiev also won in patterns. Crimean athletes earned five places on the national team.
Competitors included Valerii Boiko and Andrii Nashchynets from Kyiv, Oleksii Korovin from Kharkiv and Iryna Chernykh from Crimea. Luhansk’s school was represented by Andrii Bochkov, Yevhen Popov, Vitalii Svystula, Andrii Anysko, Serhii Matviienko, Valerii Davydenko, Oleksandr Butsev, Maksym Pryn and Volodymyr Perov. Dnipropetrovsk’s athletes included Vadym Khafizov, Dmytro Andriievskyi, Borys Malashevych, Serhii Andriievskyi and Nataliia Taran.
June: Ukrainian umpires at the European championship
Koszalin hosted the European championship on 12–14 June. Ukraine did not field an athlete team at this event, but Mykhailo Mizin, Oleh Petrovskyi and Oleksandr Popov worked as umpires. International experience was developing across all parts of the national system: athletes, coaches and officials.
September: the Ukrainian flag at the world championship
Ukraine competed at the ITF world championship in Pyongyang on 10–15 September 1992. The team comprised 12 athletes, including three women, and marched under Ukraine’s national flag.
The men included Andrii Mutiev, Anton Kozlov, Vladyslav Kim, Ihor Tarasenko and Valerii Boiko. The women were Iryna Chernykh, Tamara Hryshchenko and Nataliia Taran. Korean master Han Chol was head coach, supported by Oleksandr Popov and Oleksii Zolotavin.
Ihor Tarasenko, II Dan, won bronze in special technique. His medal became one of independent Ukraine’s early major achievements at world ITF level. It grew from national selection, regional coaching and the team’s shared preparation: a system the Ukrainian community was building step by step.