Translated material
Maternal care
Elena Baranova returned to the set after the birth of twins
The new holder of the title of the strongest team in the Old World, “Spartak” (Vidnoe), who won it a little over a week ago in the home “Final Four” of the European Club Championship, finished in second place for the first time in the regular season of the Super League. The best in Russia over the past three years, CSKA Samara (received this name last summer instead of VBM-SSAU) became the winner of the two-round tournament, so at all stages of the playoffs it will have the advantage of its home court. The capital's Dynamo team, which remained third with equal victories, lost to Spartak in personal meetings and, most likely, will meet with the “red-whites” again in the semi-finals.Two dozen people from CSKA, Spartak and Dynamo Moscow (including coaches and their assistants) will receive gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the end of the regular season. However, the title of winner or prize-winner of the Super League is not of fundamental importance. Places in the classification of the Russian championship and a ticket to European competitions will be distributed based on the results of the playoffs. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held up to two wins according to the “1--1--1” system, the series for “gold” and “bronze” - up to three wins by one of the teams according to the “2--2--1” system. The tournament's opening knockout round matches will take place on April 14, 17 and, if necessary, April 20. In these pairs there are: CSKA - "Dynamo" MO, "Spartak" MO - "Dynamo" (Kursk), "Dynamo" M - "Vologda-Chevakata", UMMC - "Nadezhda".
The quarterfinal opponents were already known before the last round on Sunday, so the main event of the final day of the regular season was the return to the court of one of the most titled and iconic players in Russian women's basketball, Elena Baranova. She previously defended the colors of CSKA, UMMC, the capital's Dynamo and a number of foreign clubs.
She hasn’t played in the Super League for almost two years, and if we talk about official matches in general, our prima has not appeared in a game since September 1, 2005, when she finished the season in the WNBA.
Such a long absence of Elena from the field of view of basketball fans is caused by more than good reasons. The 1992 Barcelona Olympic champion and two-time winner of the European championships was on maternity leave and became the mother of twins - a boy and a girl. Moreover, Baranova gave birth at the end of October, and just five months later she made her debut for Vologda. In such a short period of time, the multiple national champion with CSKA (real, capital) and Yekaterinburg UMMC managed to recover and get into shape, although not yet the most optimal, but allowing her to solve certain problems in the playoffs with her new team.
In the match with “Baltic Star” on the banks of the Neva, the Vologda team confidently won - 87:63. The head coach of Chevakata, Boris Sokolovsky, to begin with, did not give Baranova a heavy load, briefly releasing her from the bench, but the 2003 Euroleague winner still managed to demonstrate her calling card by sending the ball into the St. Petersburg team’s hoop from behind the three-point arc.
As Arkady Pogosyan, one of the leaders of Vologda-Chevakata, told a Vremya Novostey correspondent, relations with Baranova have been formalized until the end of this season. “We hope that Elena’s experience and skill will help us play better in the playoffs. The team just has certain problems in those positions that Baranova can fill.” The Northerners now really lack a strong all-rounder who can help in attack and in fighting under the shields. As for defensive actions, Boris Sokolovsky’s team has good results. Having taken sixth place, Vologda became the second strongest defensive formation - only the girls from Samara allowed their opponents to score fewer points.
Baranova’s current return is dictated solely by the desire to play, which is especially valuable. She has already won almost all possible titles (except for the title of world champion), and the financial part of the issue is not of primary importance - in most of our clubs, managers prefer to pay big money to foreign players rather than home-grown players. At the moment, the very fact that Baranova became the first top-level basketball player in Russia to take to the court after the birth of two children is important. This deserves great respect. The absolute record holder in this regard is the American Susie McConnell-Serio, who played in the WNBA while being the mother of four children.
Now, in terms of the class of basketball players involved in the top division of the Russian championship, our championship is in no way inferior to the North American league, but from the point of view of the general organization of the process, there is a huge gap between the super league and the WNBA. And it’s not even a matter of match attendance, which in Russia is significantly lower than overseas. Information support in a number of clubs is at the lowest level.
The “Year of Women’s Basketball” announced by FIBA Europe is currently underway, providing for popularization and special attention to matches of continental cups and national championships with the participation of the fair sex. And in Russia, some teams (Dynamo Kursk, Baltic Star) do not even have their own websites, although their presence is mandatory under the Super League regulations, and the absence should be punishable by monetary fines. Dynamo Moscow, starting in February, has taken an extremely formal approach to filling out its website - the news feed here consists exclusively of congratulations to the players and club employees on their birthday. What can we say about the club booklet or basic programs?
Women's Super League. Final position
| 1. CSKA (Samara) | 22 | 20 | 2 | 1761--1328 | 42 |
| 2. Spartak Moscow Region | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1787--1514 | 39 |
| 3. Dynamo M | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1738--1486 | 39 |
| 4. UMMC | 22 | 15 | 7 | 1651--1554 | 37 |
| 5. "Hope" | 22 | 14 | 8 | 1531--1598 | 36 |
| 6. "Vologda" | 22 | 12 | 10 | 1538--1454 | 34 |
| 7. Dynamo (Kursk) | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1444--1523 | 32 |
| 8. Dynamo Moscow Region | 22 | 8 | 14 | 1562--1643 | 30 |
| 9. Dynamo Ns | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1545--1682 | 29 |
| 10. NUR | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1555--1705 | 29 |
| 11. "Shelen" | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1407--1739 | 25 |
| 12. “Balt. Star" | 22 | 2 | 20 | 1471--1764 | 24 |