Taras Khtey becomes the top sportsman in Russia – Volleyball news
In a recent poll for the top sportsman of Russia, which was organised by a local TV channel and newspaper, the fans decided to give most of the votes to volleyball star and skipper of Russian Men’s National Volleyball Team, Taras Yurevich Khtey.
The 28-year-old athlete was unanimously chosen as country’s top sportsman of the 2011 season. The votes and opinions of fans were received via mobile text messages, whereas some of the fans also interacted through the designated local sports website.
Khtey had a tough competition with athletes from other sports such as biathlete Olga Zaitseva, skier Alexei Petukhov, skeleton racer Olga Potylitsina and heavyweight boxer Alexander Povetkin. Nonetheless, the volleyball star earned the recognition of the
top sportsman of Russia.
In the tense final voting session, Khtey was put up against female biathlete Zaitseva and the voting ran neck-and-neck until the final few seconds when Khtey edged ahead. He clinched 50.1 per cent of the votes, while Zaitseva got 49.9 per cent.
Khtey truly deserved to be voted as the top sportsman in the country as he brought a lot of success for the team and country in 2011. People of Russia recognised his talent and skills, and voted him as the top sportsman.
Khtey has a long-term relationship with the Russian volleyball as he started playing international volleyball in 1999 when he was only 19 years old. From 1999 to 2001, he appeared in various international competitions for junior, youth and student teams
of Russia and gained a lot of attention from all corners. On account of his extraordinary skills, soon he clawed his way to the national team. He debuted in the Russian national team in 2002, while Russia took on Cuba in a World League match.
Russian Men’s National team took part in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Khtey was featured on the team roster and played seven matches. Along with his teammates, he worked out a great performance and settled for bronze ware.
In the upcoming years, he emerged as the top gun of Russia and helped the national team to win many European and International campaigns.
Most recently, he competed at the 2011 FIVB World League as a captain of Russian team. He did a great job and led the team to gold medal victory. Russia also earned the Olympic tickets under his captaincy.
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