Lokomotiv Kuban and CSKA never cease to amaze

Basketball clubs Lokomotiv-Kuban and CSKA continue their battle, handball players from Kuban held a full rehearsal of the quarterfinals, and rugby clubs from Krasnodar performed with varying degrees of success at home competitions. These are the main results of the past sports week.

Minus nineteen? No problem!

The semi-final series of the VTB United League between Loko and CSKA rightfully deserves to become one of the central events of this spring, even on a national scale. After the games in Moscow, equality was established – 1: 1. Both matches in Krasnodar were also exciting. It is worth noting that the VTB United League semi-finals are going great, they can only be enjoyed. In another pair, between UNICS Kazan and Zenit from St. Petersburg, equality was also established – 2: 2. But the confrontation between Loko and CSKA is more dense, each duel turns out to be as stubborn as possible.

The third match of the series is perhaps the clear favorite in this regard. First, even before the game, the drama lay in wait for the army team. It became known that their leader, Serb Nikola Milutinov, cannot play in Krasnodar matches: at the end of the second match, he sprained his leg. But even without him, CSKA is full of strong players, and the team has the psychology of winners.

The beginning of the match was stunning for the “red-greens”. The winner of the regular season seemed to put the daring Krasnodar team in their place. The first quarter did not bode well. Score 25: 11 – the guests led. In the second period, several refereeing decisions pissed off Loko’s coach Alexander Sekulich. He received the first technical foul. Soon in the new episode, although the referees left the ball to Krasnodar, the Slovenian specialist did not stop raging. He was “awarded” with the second technical remark, which meant that the coach was forced to leave the bench and go to the under-tribune room until the end of the fight.

Nevertheless, Krasnodar managed to catch up in the score by the big break – 50 : 41. The army team was ahead. The third quarter again cast doubt on Loko’s success. Guests led with a difference of nineteen points. Just before the last period, the lead was sixteen points. This one looked almost unplayable in terms of raw numbers. But in Basket Hall there was a great atmosphere. Four and a half thousand spectators urged Loko on – and the hosts were able to turn the tide of the match.

Spurt – 16 : 0 – fell on the first half of the final quarter. CSKA’s attack stalled, Krasnodar defended hard but successfully. In the end, Chris Horton hit with a foul and put Loko ahead – 82 : 81. The tense last minutes provoked misses and losses from both sides. Stronger nerves were the owners. Jaylen Burford converted free throws, strengthening the advantage. In the last attack, the army team brought Dallas Moore to the position, who did not play the best match, and the American smeared a long-range shot. The result is 84:81 (11:25, 30:25, 12:19, 31:12).

— At first we acted softly, but found the strength to turn the match around, — Loko coach Yuritsa Zhuzha said after the match. – In the fourth quarter, you could see how we want to look every second of every match. I hope this victory will add confidence to the guys in their strength.

– Embarrassing defeat. We were confidently leading the whole match, but in the fourth quarter the game discipline deteriorated significantly. This should not be allowed,” said CSKA head coach Emil Rajkovic.

It should be noted that before the match Loko’s forward Andrey Martyuk was awarded the prize of the best young player of the VTB United League for the second year in a row.

The series develops in such a way that the winner in the end is the one who, in the course of the meeting, seems to have less chance of it. The fourth match was at first more successful for Loko than the previous one. However, the victory went to the guests.

The game was more measured, without “twists” in the score. Loko had a slight advantage, before the last quarter the hosts were ahead of the opponent by two points. However, at the beginning there was a failure, the army team took the lead with almost a two-digit difference in the score – 68:59. Krasnodar managed to reduce the gap to just one point – 69:70 – two minutes before the end. In decisive moments, the attack of the guests played reliably. Kasper Weir and Aleksey Shved did not give up. Even Burford’s insane three-pointer didn’t save Loko.

Okaro White, who became Loko’s best scorer in the previous two matches, did not play very well against Loko. The American limited himself to four points. In general, it was the most ineffective match in the series – 79:73 (20:16, 17:23, 18:18, 24:16) in favor of CSKA.

– First of all, I will say that I am proud of the guys, the way they fought. It is this attitude that can help us achieve success in the series,” Lokomotiv-Kuban head coach Alexander Sekulich remained positive. – We tried to attack the weak points of the opponent, and for three quarters we succeeded. Unfortunately, in the final quarter we made several wrong decisions: we couldn’t score, we made gross mistakes in defense. Teams of the CSKA level are punished for this.

There are at least two matches of this exciting series ahead. On the evening of April 25, the teams played in Moscow, on April 28 they will return to Krasnodar. If the winner is not revealed, the rivals will hold a decisive duel in the Russian capital on the first of May.

Lost in rehearsal

The regular season in the Women’s Handball Super League has ended. Krasnodar “Kuban” met with the Togliatti “Lada” at the home site. They, as it became known, will soon play with each other in the quarterfinal series. So the teams could rehearse.

The result of this match promises a high intensity of passions in the playoffs. In general, Kuban can complain about the lost victory. Krasnodar were leading with a difference of three goals – 27: 24 – and could well put pressure on their rivals. Alas, they did not use three killer moments. Sufficiently reliable in the implementation of Valery Sobkalo and Ekaterina Bobina did not convert one-on-one exits. The total percentage of shots saved by the goalkeepers of both teams is quite low, but the goalkeeper of the “Lada” Yulia Kuntsevich became a hero in the end. In addition to saves, she also threw the ball into the Kuban goal across the entire court, when Kuban launched an additional player to attack along with the goalkeeper.

Attack “Lada” kept almost one handball player. Valeria Kirdyasheva chalked up fifteen goals. True, she missed in the last attack, leaving the “Kuban” about half a minute to respond. The last throw was made by the captain of Kuban, Yana Savinova – it was saved by Kuntsevich, from whom the ball flew into the post. At the same time, Krasnodar was hampered by a field handball player from Lada, who clearly stepped into the six-meter zone, which, according to the rules, is punishable by a penalty. Alas, this went unnoticed by the arbitrators. Score 31: 30 – Lada won.

– It is important that we won, especially in such a stubborn struggle. This will not allow us to approach the quarter-finals in a relaxed mood,” Lada’s mentor Ekaterina Marennikova said after the match.

– We dribble three balls, it seems that we should have a fourth, but we start to invent something, we have a Professor who wants to give passes in his own way. And on this we begin to burn, – said the head coach of “Kuban” Denis Saifulin. – Plus or minus that we will soon play with Lada again? Wait and see.

Volzhanka finished fourth with fifty points. Kuban is fifth with 38 points. Ahead of the “Final Four” of the Cup of Russia, where the Kuban “did not make it. After that, the Super League playoffs will start. The opponents will play their first match on May 6th. By the way, this day in Krasnodar will be full of handball battles. After the women’s teams, SKIF and Viktor will meet at the same stage of the men’s superleague. The return game between “Kuban” and “Lada” will be held in Togliatti on May 11th.

thrice third

Two rugby events took place in Krasnodar last weekend. On April 23, in the men’s Major League Rugby-15 match at the Kuban stadium, Bogatyrs and Grad Petrov from Taganrog met. Earlier, Krasnodar lost to this opponent in the away match. The current winners of the Major League counted on revenge, and the first half favored it. Anton Levchenko’s team was leading 21:10, but after the break the situation changed dramatically. The guests managed to win, and even with a bonus point for the required number of attempts – 43 : 26. The team from Taganrog is in the lead in the “South” zone. The Bogatyrs, who are in second place, have to play the away match against Rotor Volgograd.

And on April 22-23, the 5th round of the Russian women’s rugby-7 championship took place at the Trud stadium. For the third time in a row, the Krasnodar “Kuban” managed to take third place. Last year it was in Anapa, a week ago in Sochi and now at the original home stadium.

On the first day, Krasnodar defeated Zilant Kazan (29: 0) and Rostov-DSTU (24: 0) and lost to the second team of the championship – VVA-Podmoskovye (5: 24). In the quarterfinals, it fell to play against the main rival in the fight for third place in the overall standings – the Krasnoyarsk Enisey. In a stubborn game, the Kubans snatched the victory in the last minute – 20:19.

In the semi-finals, the southerners fought with impregnable CSKA. The leader of the championship does not give anyone concessions – and the Muscovites won with a score of 31: 0. The main task for Kuban was to win the small final. In the game for third place, Maxim Amonov’s team outplayed Vityaz Perm in a tense struggle – 17:10. In the final, CSKA was stronger than VVA-Podmoskovye with the same score.

Krasnodar strengthened in third place in the overall standings – they have 76 points. Enisey is six points behind. Ahead of CSKA (one hundred points) and VVA-Podmoskovye (ninety). There are two rounds left to play before the end of the championship.