Zenit players in national teams. Digest: Part 2

Yesterday, on July 14, the training camp of the main Russian national basketball team began at the Novogorsk sports center. Among the players called up were Blue-White-Sky Blues' guards Alexander Shcherbenev and Vladislav Emchenko. The team will stay in the Moscow region until July 16, after which they will continue preparations at the Meshchersky sports complex in Nizhny Novgorod until July 24. At the end of July, Zoran Lukic’s squad will play a home friendly match against the national team of Iran, followed by an away game against Egypt in early August.

Meanwhile, all youth teams involving players from the Zenit system have already completed their training camps.

The U20 national team, which includes Zenit forward Egor Evstafiev, wrapped up its camp with two confident victories. On July 1, the Russians defeated Armenia U20 with a score of 90:45. Evstafiev spent 21 minutes on the court, scoring 19 points, grabbing 3 rebounds, delivering 2 assists and blocking 2 shots. The following day, Roman Semerninov’s team narrowly defeated Switzerland 84:76. In that game, Evstafiev posted 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 27 minutes.

The U17 Russian national team, coached by Roman Knyazev, had the most productive training camp in terms of competitive experience. After two friendly games in late June against their Belarusian peers, the U16 national team played two more games against Armenia, winning 96:59 and 80:47. Zenit’s player Anton Suikonen joined the squad for these matches, teaming up with clubmate Nikolay Sevostyanov. The final friendly matches were against Serbia U16. In the first game on July 8, Russia lost 68:73. Sevostyanov contributed 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. Suikonen recorded 3 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. On July 9, Roman Knyazev’s team avenged the previous loss by beating Serbia 84:80. Suikonen starred in that game with 24 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Sevostyanov added 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

The last to complete its camp was the Russian U18 national team, which includes Zenit Basketball Academy players Ivan Vasiliev, Mikhail Presnyakov and Dmitry Chikishev. On July 9 and 10, Alexander Gusev’s team played two friendly matches against Slovenia U18, both resulting in defeats for Russia — 77:80 and 79:85. Average stats for the Zenit players across both games: Ivan Vasiliev (9.5 points, 8.0 rebounds), Dmitry Chikishev (9.5 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals, 2.0 rebounds) and Mikhail Presnyakov (5.5 points, 2.0 rebounds).