Tina Garabedian, Simon Senecal set personal bests; Armenian football falls in Norway

After a strong showing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Armenia’s favorite ice dancing duo was back at it again this week.

Tina Garabedian and Simon Senecal broke their own personal record at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier, France with a combined score of 170.32 to finish 14th out of 31 competitors. This score was more than three points better than their score at the Winter Olympics, when the duo finished 18th.

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On the pitch, the Armenian national football team ushered in a new era this week, beginning life without Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who retired from international play earlier this year.

The team played a pair of friendlies and finished with mixed results, defeating Montenegro 1-0 in Yerevan on March 24 before suffering an ugly 9-0 loss to Norway in Oslo on Tuesday.

Vahan Bichakhchyan was the lone Armenian goal scorer in the two games, scoring in the 19th minute of Armenia’s win over Montenegro.

In Tuesday’s loss, Arman Hovhannisyan was sent off with a red card in the early stages of the game. With a one-man disadvantage, Armenia was unable to mitigate Norway’s powerful onslaught led by Joshua King and Erling Haaland, who combined for five goals in the match.

Top Armenian players Lucas Zelarayan and Sargis Adamyan missed both matches due to injuries. The two matches were Armenia’s final tune-up for the UEFA Nations League tournament which begins in June.

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Armenia’s first game in the UEFA Nations League tournament is on June 4 at Scotland.

Finally in baseball, Oakland Athletics starting pitcher James Kaprielian is expected to miss the beginning of the 2022 MLB season due to AC joint irritation in his shoulder, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A’s team insider Matt Gallegos also reports Kaprielian’s return likely won’t be until late April at the earliest. Oakland’s first regular season game takes place April 8 at Philadelphia.

Last season, Kaprielian had an 8-5 record with a 4.07 ERA in 24 appearances along with 123 strikeouts. The pitcher, who has had a career of injury issues, is expected to be a big part of Oakland’s starting rotation in 2022.

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Andre Khatchaturian

Andre Khatchaturian is a seasoned digital content producer and the sports correspondent for The Armenian Weekly. He is the founder of Camak Media, a multimedia company specializing in drone footage, video content and photography for small businesses. Prior to this, he produced video and written content at the New England Sports Network (NESN). He has also provided coverage at three Super Bowls and more than a dozen high-profile UFC fights. Andre is from Glendale, California. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He moved to Boston in 2013, where he attended Boston University and graduated with a master's degree in broadcast journalism.