The teams moved into the outback

Perm and Vologda will see European level games

Yesterday the Russian men's and women's national teams started their qualifying round for the 2003 European Championship. Basketball players in the capital's USC CSKA won against their rivals from the Czech Republic, and the girls finished their away match against Slovenia late in the evening.

At a recent meeting of the executive committee of the Russian Basketball Federation (RFB), the work of the head coach of the men's team, Stanislav Eremin, was assessed as satisfactory. The Russians took fifth place at the continental championship in Turkey and received a ticket to the world championship, that is, they completed the minimum task. Mentor of the women's team Vadim Kapranov received a "good" rating - the girls brought silver medals from France. So there were no changes in the coaching staffs of the national teams, especially since even before the “autumn session” the president of the RFB Valery Kuzin promised that no matter the result, he would not make drastic personnel changes and the coaches of the national teams were guaranteed to remain in their places.

For men, our Euro 2003 group includes the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, England and Portugal. For the first match with the Czechs, center Alexander Bashminov, whose Achilles tendon was inflamed, could not arrive at the national team’s location. Italian Benetton sniper Sergei Chikalkin also could not play, having suffered a sprained leg muscle. It is interesting that dispatcher Vasily Karasev and center Mikhail Mikhailov, who ignored Euro 2001, returned to the national team. It seems that Karasev and Mikhailov have reconsidered their attitude to playing in the main team of the country because the second and third home matches - against Slovenia and Portugal on November 24 and 28, respectively - are scheduled to be held in Perm for the first time in history. And they are precisely the leaders of the local “Ural Great”. The last two matches of the first round will take place in January next year. The second round is played in the fall-winter of the 2002/2003 season. The top two teams from each group and the four third-place finishers in the five qualifying groups advance to the finals of the 2003 European Championship. To be among the finalists of the continental championship is a quite feasible task for the Russians. Experts consider the Italians and Slovenes, the majority of whom are players from famous European clubs, to be the most serious rivals.

It's even easier for our girls. Their rivals are Finland, Slovenia and Hungary. Here you just need to get into the top two, and given the extremely low rating of the Slovenians and basketball players from the Country of Suomi, Kapranov has the opportunity to experiment with the composition and play young ones. The women's team also “went to the people” and will play home matches in Vologda. This city has the highest attendance at Women's Super League matches - the 1,500-seat Spectrum Hall is almost always filled to capacity. True, at the executive committee, Kapranov was dissatisfied with the transfer of games from Moscow. A specialist who has worked with foreign clubs for many years has become disconnected from our reality and simply does not know how they can receive guests and organize a basketball show in Vologda. Most likely, Kapranov’s opinion will become diametrically opposed in the coming days.

Changes in composition are minimal. The captain of the team, dispatcher of the capital Dynamo Evgenia Nikonova, injured her leg and will not play, and experienced center Elena Khudashova temporarily stopped performing. Forward Elena Baranova and center Maria Stepanova did not fly to Slovenia, but their presence in Vologda was promised, although questions remain regarding the latter. Our girls will play home matches on November 24 against Hungary, and on the 28th against Finland.

Ilya TRISVIATSKY