Alina Kovaleva

{{Short description|Russian curler (born 1993)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox curler | name = Alina Kovaleva<br>Алина Ковалёва | image = | image_size = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1993|02|18}} | birth_place = [[Slantsy]], [[Leningrad Oblast]], Russia | Curling club = [[Adamant Curling Club|Adamant CC]], <br> [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia|RUS]] | Skip = '''Alina Kovaleva''' | Third = [[Yulia Portunova]] | Second = [[Galina Arsenkina]] | Lead = [[Ekaterina Kuzmina]] | Alternate = [[Maria Komarova]] | Mixed doubles partner = [[Sergey Glukhov]] | Member Association = {{RUS}} | World Championship appearances = 4 ({{WWCC|2016}}, {{WWCC|2017}}, {{WWCC|2019}}, {{WWCC|2021}}) | World Mixed Doubles Championship appearances = 1 ({{WMDCC|2011}}) | European Championship appearances = 5 ({{EuCC|2015}}, {{EuCC|2017}}, {{EuCC|2018}}, {{EuCC|2019}}, {{EuCC|2021}}) | Olympic appearances = 1 ([[Curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Women's tournament|2022]]) |medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport | Women's [[Curling]] }} {{MedalCountry| {{RUS}} }} {{Medal|Competition | [[World Curling Championships]] }} {{MedalSilver | [[2017 World Women's Curling Championship|2017 Beijing]] | }} {{MedalBronze | [[2016 World Women's Curling Championship|2016 Swift Current]] | }} {{Medal|Competition | [[European Curling Championships]] }} {{Medal|Gold| [[2015 European Curling Championships|2015 Esbjerg]] | }} {{Medal|Competition | [[World Junior Curling Championships]]}} {{Medal|Gold| [[2013 World Junior Curling Championships|2013 Sochi]] | }} {{Medal|Bronze| [[2014 World Junior Curling Championships|2014 Flims]] | }} {{Medal|Competition | [[World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship]]}} {{Medal|Silver| [[2011 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship|2011 St. Paul]] | }} {{MedalCountry| [[File:Rcf flag.png|border|23px]] [[Russia|RCF]] }} {{Medal|Competition | [[World Curling Championships]] }} {{MedalSilver | [[2021 World Women's Curling Championship|2021 Calgary]] | }} }}

'''Alina Romanovna Kovaleva''' ({{langx|ru|Алина Романовна Ковалёва}}; born 18 February 1993) is a Russian [[curling|curler]] from [[Saint Petersburg]].<ref name="Media Guide">{{cite web |url=https://www.curling.ca/files/2020/03/2020-World-Womens-Curling-Championship-media-guide.pdf |title=2020 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide |author= |date= |publisher=Curling Canada |access-date=2020-03-09 |archive-date=15 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315003033/https://www.curling.ca/files/2020/03/2020-World-Womens-Curling-Championship-media-guide.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her major achievement to date was winning the [[2015 European Curling Championships]] as alternate. Kovaleva is Merited Master of Sports of Russia (2016).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.minsport.gov.ru/upload/iblock/1e4/1e4f656ec02fefe91d4f45b2fb5f36d8.pdf |script-title=ru:Приказ от 28 июня 2016 г. № 80 нг «О присвоении почетного спортивного звания „Заслуженный мастер спорта России“» |trans-title=Order of June 28, 2016 No. 80 ng "On the assignment of the honorary sports title "Honored Master of Sports of Russia"" |date=28 June 2016 |page=5 |publisher=Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation |language=ru |access-date=23 February 2017}}</ref>

==Career== Kovaleva practiced curling in her school years in her hometown [[Slantsy, Leningrad Oblast|Slantsy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.curling.ru/news/3194 |title=Ковалева: основная цель — попасть в состав женской сборной России. |trans-title=Kovaleva: The main goal is to get into the Russian women's team. |website=curling.ru |language=ru |archive-url=https://archive.today/20151128002314/http://www.curling.ru/news/3194 |archive-date=28 November 2015}}</ref> 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 (curling)|skip]]. As a member of the club, she won the 2013 Russian Cup and became the silver medalist at the {{ill|2015 Russian Women's Curling Championships|ru|Чемпионат России по кёрлингу среди женщин 2015|vertical-align=sup}}, losing 7-4 in the final to Moskva 1.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rsport.ru/others/20150902/859648299.html |title=Кёрлингистка Галкина решила сделать передышку после тяжелого сезона. |trans-title=Curler Galkina decided to take a break after a tough season. |website=rsport.ru |language=ru |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123120143/http://rsport.ru/others/20150902/859648299.html |archive-date=23 November 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Russians won the tournament; it was Kovaleva's first gold medal at the European Championships. She and her team won the [[2016 World Women's Curling Championship|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. {{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In 2018, Kovaleva turned to playing as skip. Her first tour win as a skip came at the 2018 [[Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.curlingzone.com/post.php?postid=2108#1 |title=Alina Kovaleva wins Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic |website=CurlingZone |date=30 September 2018 |access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref> Later that season, she also won the [[2018 China Open (curling)|2018 China Open]] and the [[Russian Curling Cup]]. 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 (curling)|Grand Slam]] event at the [[2019 Champions Cup]], where she made the quarterfinals.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

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

Team Kovaleva began the abbreviated [[2020–21 curling season|2020–21 season]] at the [[2020 Russian Women's Curling Cup]], where they went undefeated to claim the title.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?eventid=6734&eventtypeid=82&view=Playoffs#1 |title=2020 Russian Women's Curling Cup – Playoffs |website=CurlingZone |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?eventid=6812&eventtypeid=82&view=Playoffs#1 |title=2020 Russian Women's Curling Championship – Playoffs |website=CurlingZone |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> A "curling bubble" was set up in [[Calgary]], [[Canada]] in the spring, which hosted several events, including the [[2021 World Women's Curling Championship]] and two slams.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.curling.ca/blog/2021/03/05/womens-worlds-added-to-bubble/ |title=Women's Worlds added to bubble |publisher=Curling Canada |date=5 March 2021 |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> Team Kovaleva qualified for the playoffs at the first slam, the [[2021 Champions Cup (curling)|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 16 December 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 [[Glossary of curling#Freeze|freeze]] on her final shot.<ref>{{YouTube|VKNasCG04dA|'''Video''' (full game): 2021 World Women's Curling Championship - Final - Switzerland (Silvana Tirinzoni) vs RCF (Alina Kovaleva)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://olympics.com/en/news/tirinzoni-switzerland-successfully-defend-world-women-curling-title |title=Tirinzoni and Switzerland successfully defend world women's curling title with win over RCF |publisher=Olympics |author=ZK Goh |date=10 May 2021 |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>

In their first event of the [[2021–22 curling season|2021–22 season]], Team Kovaleva went undefeated to claim the [[Saint Petersburg Classic]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://worldcurlingtour.org/women/event/578 |title=Saint Petersburg Classic |website=World Curling Tour |access-date=18 June 2022}}</ref> At the first Slam of the season, the [[2021 Masters (curling)|2021 Masters]], the team reached the semifinals where they lost to [[Tracy Fleury]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/jacobs-to-meet-mouat-in-masters-mens-final/ |title=Jacobs to meet Mouat in Masters men's final |publisher=Grand Slam of Curling |author=Jonathan Brazeau |date=23 October 2021 |access-date=18 June 2022 |archive-date=20 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120194817/https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/jacobs-to-meet-mouat-in-masters-mens-final/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> They also qualified for the playoffs at the [[2021 National]], however, lost to [[Silvana Tirinzoni]] in the quarterfinal round. At the [[2021 European Curling Championships]], Team Kovaleva went through the round robin with a 7–2 record, qualifying for the playoffs. They then lost to Sweden's [[Anna Hasselborg]] and Germany's [[Daniela Jentsch]] in the semifinal and bronze medal games, respectively, placing fourth.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://worldcurling.org/2021/11/ecc2021-women-bronze/ |title=Germany women win European bronze medals in Lillehammer |publisher=World Curling Federation |date=26 November 2021 |access-date=18 June 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124205535/https://worldcurling.org/2021/11/ecc2021-women-bronze/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Because of their second place finish at the 2021 World Championship, Kovaleva and her teammates [[Yulia Portunova]], [[Galina Arsenkina]], [[Ekaterina Kuzmina]] and [[Maria Komarova]] qualified directly for the [[Curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Women's tournament|2022 Winter Olympics]] where they represented the [[Russian Olympic Committee athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics|ROC]] (Russian Olympic Committee). At the Games, the team had a poor performance, finishing at the bottom of the standings with a 1–8 record.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://worldcurling.org/2022/02/beijing-w-s12/ |title=Great Britain and Japan women complete play-off picture |publisher=World Curling Federation |date=17 February 2022 |access-date=18 June 2022 |archive-date=21 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321030136/https://worldcurling.org/2022/02/beijing-w-s12/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Olympics would be the team's final event of the season as due to the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine]], all Russian teams were banned from participating in any [[World Curling Championships]] in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://worldcurling.org/2022/02/emergency-regulation/ |title=World Curling Federation adopts emergency regulation for sanctioned competitions |publisher=World Curling Federation |date=28 February 2022 |access-date=18 June 2022 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228231940/https://worldcurling.org/2022/02/emergency-regulation/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The team was also excluded from the final two Grand Slams of the season, the [[2022 Players' Championship]] and the [[2022 Champions Cup (curling)|2022 Champions Cup]]. At the end of the season, Team Kovaleva competed in the [[2022 Nornickel Curling Cup]], held only between Russian teams. There, they finished in third place.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://arcticcurling.ru/news/takie-shou-malo-gde-uvidish-igroki-team-kovaleva-o-nornickel-curling-cup/ |title="You won't see many shows like this." Team Kovaleva players about the Nornickel Curling Cup |language=ru |publisher=Arctic Cup |date=29 May 2022 |access-date=26 June 2022}}</ref>

==Grand Slam record== {{Curling GS key}} {{clear}} {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Event ! [[2015–16 curling season|2015–16]] ! [[2016–17 curling season|2016–17]] ! [[2017–18 curling season|2017–18]] ! [[2018–19 curling season|2018–19]] ! [[2019–20 curling season|2019–20]] ! [[2020–21 curling season|2020–21]] ! [[2021–22 curling season|2021–22]] |- | [[Masters (curling)|Masters]] |style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2015 The Masters Grand Slam of Curling|QF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2017 Masters of Curling|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:yellow;"| [[2021 Masters (curling)|SF]] |- | [[Tour Challenge]] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2015 GSOC Tour Challenge|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |- | [[National (curling)|The National]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2021 National|QF]] |- | [[Canadian Open (curling)|Canadian Open]] | style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2015 Canadian Open of Curling|QF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP | style="background:yellow;"| [[2020 Canadian Open (curling)|SF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |- | [[Players' Championship|Players']] | style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2016 Players' Championship|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2021 Players' Championship|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |- | [[Champions Cup (curling)|Champions Cup]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP | style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2019 Champions Cup|QF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2021 Champions Cup (curling)|QF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |}

== 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)''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.minsport.gov.ru/press-centre/news/27900/ |title=Виталий Мутко встретился с женской сборной командой России по керлингу. |trans-title=Vitaly Mutko met with the Russian women's curling team. |website=minsport.gov.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{World Curling|name=Alina Kovaleva}} * {{Olympics.com profile|name=Alina Kovaleva}} * {{Olympedia|name=Alina Kovalyova}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20220311082551/https://results.beijing2022.cn/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/curling/athlete-profile-n1036536-alina-kovaleva.htm Alina Kovaleva] at the [[Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics]] (archived) * [http://www.curling.adamant.ru/commands/wooman/ Profile on Adamant CC] {{in lang|ru}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovaleva, Alina}} [[Category:1993 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Slantsy]] [[Category:Russian female curlers]] [[Category:Russian curling champions]] [[Category:Curlers from Saint Petersburg]] [[Category:Curlers at the 2022 Winter Olympics]] [[Category:Olympic curlers for Russia]] [[Category:21st-century Russian sportswomen]]