Zenit U21 wins bronze in the VTB United Youth League
The blue-whites' youth team finished the 2024/25 season in third place. In the bronze medal match, Roman Knyazev's squad confidently defeated Pari Nizhny Novgorod-Junior with a score of 77:65, maintaining the lead throughout the entire game.
The St. Petersburg side started the game very confidently, leading by "+20" points by halftime. However, after the break, Nizhny Novgorod fought back, attempting several comebacks. Five minutes before the final buzzer, the gap was reduced to just 5 points, but the Zenit U21 players held their ground and carried the team to a well-deserved victory.
The standout player for Zenit U21 was Alexander Porotnikov, who scored 17 points along with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Following the Final Four, the guard was included in the tournament's symbolic five.
Other notable performances in the match against Nizhny Novgorod came from Semen Burinskiy (16 points, 4 assists, 2 steals), Ilya Krivyh (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist) and Egor Evstafiev (11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal).
Roman Knyazev, Zenit U21 head coach:
Yesterday was an important match for us, and we failed it. During the game, it felt like we were doing everything right. After analyzing the semifinal, we realized that we only showed 40% of our game; there were many situations where we didn't capitalize on the opponent's mistakes and lacked our usual aggression. I don’t know what exactly affected us — perhaps nervousness or fatigue after a long season.
After that tough game, it was hard to refocus for this match. We spent a lot of physical and mental energy. Still, we started well today. It wasn't the most high-scoring game, but we played almost error-free. Yesterday, we noticed that Nizhny Novgorod struggled against MBA-MAI-Junior, and the first half today confirmed those issues. Later they switched up their defense, and we stalled a bit, allowing them some fast breaks. They shook us up, but perhaps the quality of our players showed through in the end.
Alexander Porotnikov, Zenit U21 guard:
In the first game, we suffered a painful loss; we couldn't execute the game plan. We didn’t give our 100%, maybe only about 60–70%. But today, everyone came out mentally prepared for the bronze match. Everyone stuck to the plan and played to their maximum. At one point, the opponent made a strong run, scoring several three-pointers in a row, but we kept our composure, played smart, and finished the season worthy of the bronze medals. We earned them, and our hard work paid off.
