Zenit U21 will open the second half of the regular season in Krasnodar
Zenit U21 returns to the basketball court after a long break. The upcoming round will mark the start of the second half of the regular season of the VTB United Youth League for Roman Knyazev’s team. Matches against SSOR Lokomotiv Kuban will take place on January 12 and 13 in Krasnodar. Tip-off for both games is at 14:00 St. Petersburg time.
The Blue-White-Sky Blues finished the first half of the regular season in second place in the standings, with 24 wins in 26 games. The Krasnodar side, meanwhile, sits in fourth place with 18 wins and 8 losses.
In December, SSOR Loko played at home against STC Khimki-2 and MINSK-M, and away against Avtodor-2 and Samara-2 — exactly the same set of opponents as Zenit U21. However, unlike the St. Petersburg team, which suffered a loss against Khimki, Loko went through December undefeated.
The hosts’ leading scorer is forward Pavel Ryabkov, who also posts some of the league’s best numbers in other statistical categories. On average per game, the 17-year-old records 15.6 points (top-3 in the League), 10.4 rebounds (top-1), 2.0 steals (top-4), 1.6 blocks (top-4), and 1.4 assists.
The teams met in St. Petersburg in the first half of the season. On that occasion, both games ended in victories for the Blue-White-Sky Blues — 79:57 and 73:63. Overall, SSOR Loko and Zenit U21 have faced each other 47 times in the VTB United Youth League. However, across the entire history of the rivalry, the Krasnodar team currently leads the series, 27-20.
Zenit U21 guard Maxim Rudko shared his thoughts ahead of the team’s first games of 2026:
The team is 100% ready. The New Year holidays were short, just five days. So from January 3 we’ve already been training actively and are ready to deliver results on the court. We’re prepared for the games against Lokomotiv. The long break was beneficial: the team is even more eager to play. We’ve missed basketball and will give it our all. We expect a tough game from Loko, and from ourselves — a win.
Live broadcasts of the matches will be available on the VTB United Youth League website, as well as on VK Video.
