Mikhail Zakharov is the new coach of Belarus

The head coach of Yunost Minsk Mikhail Zakharov was appointed as the new coach of Belarus national team. The 62-years-old native of Ust-Kamenogorsk signed a contract for two years, to lead Belarus at the World Championship 2021 held in Minsk.

Zakharov is one of the most successful coaches in the country: he won the eight Belarusian championships, six Belarusian Cup and three Continental Cup, all with Yunost Minsk, the only club he coached in all career, apart Belarus and Ukraine national team. He headed the U18 and the U20 team and the national team at the World Championships 2004 and 2005, the Olympic Qualification 2005, as well as at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Repeatedly worked as an assistant to the head coach of the national team of Belarus. He was voted three times Coach of the Year in Belarus.

Known for a gruff and not very easy character, Zakharov will continue to coach also Yunost.

“There really is a lot of work.”The World Championship in 2021 will be held in Minsk and now our hockey has stalled, there are no hockey players at the level of Kalyuzhny, Grabovsky, Koltsov, Kostitsyn.But despite this, we will work and move on. Nobody gives up, there are tasks, and we can fulfill them together with the coaches and the Federation.When we become one, these tasks will be possible. said Zakharov in the press-conference after his appointment

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