Alina Kovaleva

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Alina Kovaleva
Curler
Born (1993-02-18) 18 February 1993 (age 28)
Slantsy, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
Team
Curling club,
Saint Petersburg, RUS
SkipAlina Kovaleva
ThirdYulia Portunova
SecondGalina Arsenkina
LeadEkaterina Kuzmina
AlternateMaria Komarova
Mixed doubles
partner		Sergey Glukhov
Career
Member Association Russia
World Championship
appearances		4 (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances		1 (2011)
European Championship
appearances		5 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
Medal record
Women's Curling
Representing  Russia
World Curling Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 Beijing
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Swift Current
European Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Esbjerg
World Junior Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Sochi
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Flims
World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship
Silver medal – second place 2011 St. Paul
Representing Rcf flag.png RCF
World Curling Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Calgary

Alina Romanovna Kovaleva (Russian: Алина Романовна Ковалёва; born 18 February 1993) is a Russian curler from Saint Petersburg.[1] Her major achievement to date was winning the 2015 European Curling Championships as alternate. Kovaleva is Merited Master of Sports of Russia (2016).[2]

Career[]

Kovaleva practiced curling in the school years in her home town Slantsy.[3] She then moved to St. Petersburg to the Sports School of Olympic Reserve, No. 2. After three years of curling, she and her coach Alexey Tselousov became national champions and silver medalists at the 2011 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. Since then she has been active in mixed tournaments.

From 2013 to 2014, she was a member of the national junior team, winning the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships in Sochi and the 2014 World Junior Curling Championships in Flims.

Kovaleva plays for Adamant in St. Petersburg as a skip. As a member of the club she won the 2013 Russian Cup and became the silver medalist at the  [ru], losing 7-4 in the final to Moskva 1.

In November 2015, Kovaleva debuted as the alternate for the national team at the 2015 European Curling Championships in Esbjerg, replacing Ekaterina Galkina who took a break from curling.[4] The Russians won the tournament; it was Kovaleva's first gold medal at the European Championships. She and her team won the 2016 bronze as the alternate, and the 2017 World Women's Curling Championship silver as the second. She was also the alternate at the 2017 European Curling Championships, where her team finished 5th.

In 2018, Kovaleva has turned to playing as skip. Her first tour win as a skip came at the 2018 Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic.[5] Later that season, she also won the China Open and the . Elsewhere, she skipped the Russian team at the 2018 European Curling Championships, finishing fourth. She also skipped the Russian team at the 2019 World Women's Curling Championship, where she led her team to a 5th place finish. At the end of the season, she skipped in her first Grand Slam event at the 2019 Champions Cup, where she made the quarterfinals.

In 2019, Kovaleva won the 2019 Russian Women's Curling Championship for the first time.

Team Kovaleva began the abbreviated 2020–21 season at the 2020 Russian Women's Curling Cup where they went undefeated to claim the title.[6] In December 2020, they competed in the 2020 national championship as it had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There, they finished second in the round robin with an 8–1 record. They then defeated Team Anna Sidorova in both the 1 vs. 2 page playoff and final to claim the national title.[7] A "curling bubble" was set up in Calgary, Canada in the spring, which hosted a number of events, including the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship and two slams.[8] Team Kovaleva qualified for the playoffs at the first slam, the 2021 Champions Cup, before losing to Silvana Tirinzoni in the quarterfinals. They then missed the playoffs at the 2021 Players' Championship, finishing 2–3. The following week, the team represented the RCF (Russian Curling Federation) at the World Championships as Russia is prohibited from competing under its flag or any national symbols at any Olympic Games or world championships until December 16, 2022. The team finished second through the round robin with an 11–2 record, giving them a direct bye to the semifinals. They then defeated Sweden's Anna Hasselborg 8–7 in the semifinal before losing the final to Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni after Kovaleva missed a freeze on her final shot.[9][10]

Grand Slam record[]

Key
C Champion
F Lost in Final
SF Lost in Semifinal
QF Lost in Quarterfinals
R16 Lost in the round of 16
Q Did not advance to playoffs
T2 Played in Tier 2 event
DNP Did not participate in event
N/A Not a Grand Slam event that season
Event 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Masters QF DNP Q DNP DNP N/A SF
Tour Challenge Q DNP DNP DNP DNP N/A N/A
The National DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP N/A QF
Canadian Open QF DNP DNP DNP SF N/A
Champions Cup DNP DNP DNP QF N/A QF
Players' Q DNP DNP DNP N/A Q

Awards[]

  • Gratitude by the Sports Minister of the Russian Federation (4 December 2015) – for the successful appearance as a member of the national curling team at the European Curling Championships in Esbjerg (Denmark).[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "2020 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  2. ^ Приказ от 28 июня 2016 г. № 80 нг «О присвоении почетного спортивного звания „Заслуженный мастер спорта России“» (PDF) (in Russian). Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. 28 June 2016. p. 5. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  3. ^ Ковалева: основная цель — попасть в состав женской сборной России.
  4. ^ "Кёрлингистка Галкина решила сделать передышку после тяжелого сезона". Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Alina Kovaleva wins Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic". CurlingZone. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  6. ^ "2020 Russian Women's Curling Cup – Playoffs". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  7. ^ "2020 Russian Women's Curling Championship – Playoffs". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Women's Worlds added to bubble". Curling Canada. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  9. ^ Video (full game): 2021 World Women's Curling Championship - Final - Switzerland (Silvana Tirinzoni) vs RCF (Alina Kovaleva) on YouTube
  10. ^ ZK Goh (10 May 2021). "Tirinzoni and Switzerland successfully defend world women's curling title with win over RCF". Olympics. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  11. ^ Виталий Мутко встретился с женской сборной командой России по керлингу.

External links[]

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