The other day Kazan saw the end of the SBA regular season championship of the Republic of Tatarstan division. The women's and men's teams of the Volga Region University of Sports and Tourism fought in the final matches for the main cup of the tournament. But not everyone had a chance to make it to the finals.
The hardest struggle took place in the game for the first place among men. The University of Sports, after defeating Energo in the semi-final 75-69, reached the finals against Kazan College of Technology, which had only one defeat in its arsenal during the whole season. The university's team had a tough time on the "X" day, as the game was played without their head coach, Alexander Shagan, due to his disqualification during the previous game. Team captain Salim Rakhmanov took on that role.
"Of course it's unpleasant when a coach gets suspended. The most important thing in such situations is not to lose heart. We need to all pull together and 'make' a good game," the player shared before the final.
"The team didn't start the first quarter well. We got a boost from the fans and subsequently came together as a team, supporting each other. Unfortunately, at some point we failed to press our opponent. We made some key mistakes in the end, which affected the game," said University of Sport's player Efim Stepanov.
Thus, the men's national team of Volga Region University became the silver medalist in the Republic of Tatarstan Division, losing 68-75. Lev Shilkin led the way with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
The team was not without an individual award at the end of the championship - Salim Rakhmanov became the best centre.
A little later, the women's final was held in the UNICS Sports Hall. And again a legendary derby: Volga University and the College of Technology. The opposing teams meet on a regular basis, that the athletes and coaches have already studied each other's tactics well. As expected, the game was a head-to-head encounter. The University of Sports girls had leading with minimal advantage only in the third quarter, after that they were tight in the end, scoring 74 points against 63 in total. Once again University Basketball proved their championship in Kazan.
The Republic of Tatarstan Division's special prizes were awarded to Alina Sabirova as the MVP of the 22/23 season, Daria Perova took the title of the Best Centre, Vladimir Knyazev was named the Best Coach, Evgenia Osipova, a master's student of the university was named the Most Creative Photographer, and Rinas Shariev, Sports Events Management Specialist received a letter of thanks for fruitful cooperation and assistance in organising the SBA events.
