Zenit Basketball Academy teams enter the crucial stage of the season
The reserve teams of the blue-whites are gearing up for the most important part of the season — knockout matches and the battle for medals in their respective tournaments lie ahead. Here's a detailed look at the upcoming games for each squad.
Zenit-2
Oliver Popovic’s squad secured a hard-fought victory over Novosibirsk in the Fonbet Super League quarterfinals, winning the series 3:2. In the semifinals, the farm team now faces Temp-SUMZ, who earlier swept their own quarterfinal series 3:0.
The semifinals will also be played in a best-of-five format (2+2+1). The first two games against the Revda team will take place on April 16 and 18 on the opponent’s court. Both games will begin at 16:00 St. Petersburg time, and live streams will be available on the Russian Basketball Federation website via team's schedule page.
The third and, if necessary, fourth games will be held in St. Petersburg at the Zenit Basketball Academy (Severnaya Road, 12). The April 22 match will start at 18:00, and a potential game on April 24 will begin at 20:30. Admission for fans is free. A possible fifth game is scheduled for April 27 in Revda at 16:00.
Zenit U21
The youth team finished the regular season in fourth place with 33 wins and 15 losses. Thanks to this result, Roman Knyazev’s squad will have home-court advantage in the VTB United Youth League quarterfinal series. The playoff series will be a best-of-three, and their opponent will be PARMA-M from Perm.
The first quarterfinal match will be held on April 17 at 10:00 St. Petersburg time at the Pobeda sports complex in Perm. The return game will take place on April 20 at 16:00 in St. Petersburg, at the Zenit Basketball Academy. If needed, the decisive game will also be held in St. Petersburg — on April 21 at 16:00. Entry is free, and the matches will be streamed on the VTB United Youth League website.
Children's youth teams
The reigning champions of the Russian U19 Championship — Zenit U19 led by Dmitry Nikolaev — and the Zenit 2008 team coached by Petar Marinkovic are preparing for the home Final Eight tournament. It will be held in St. Petersburg from April 24 to 29 at the Zenit Basketball Academy court.
For the first time in history, two youth teams will represent Zenit in the final stage of the competition. We previously shared more details about the tournament format and match schedule. Come and support the blue-whites in these decisive games! Admission is free.
Another St. Petersburg team, Vladislav Shumkov's Zenit 2009, will compete for 27th–32nd places. Group "F6" games will take place from April 23 to 28 at the Meshchersky sports complex in Nizhny Novgorod. This time, blue-whites will face Olimpiets (Perm), IVS sports school (Tula), SSOR №2 Juventa (Tolyatti), Nizhny Novgorod — SSOR №2 and the Novosibirsk junior team.
