"For a children's youth team, this is an excellent result": Nikolaev and Zamanskiy — after the end of the Neva Basketball League season

On March 29, the Zenit children's youth team played the final match of the Neva Basketball League season, finishing in 4th place. In the bronze medal game of the Higher Division, the Blue-White-Sky Blues lost to GPP BIP Lions with a score of 74:87.

Dmitry Nikolaev, head coach of Zenit U19, summed up the team’s performance in NBL-2025/26 and shared his expectations for the upcoming Final Eight”of the CYBL Championship (U19), which will take place from April 11 to 16 in Krasnodar.

— Mixed feelings: we lost the third-place game and ended up without a medal, but overall, for these young guys, just participating in the game for third place is already an achievement. It’s good experience with high-class, quite smart players. For young guys, this is very useful; they can learn a lot from them. Overall, the season is probably more positive than negative. The only disappointing part is that we didn’t manage to win the last game.

— Can you share some secrets of preparation for the CYBL Final Eight? How will the team work now?

— The hardest part is that half of the teams are currently participating in the 2009 Russian Championship, so there are big questions regarding preparation for the CYBL Final Eight. But we’re making do as best as we can. We’ll get ready!

Blue-White-Sky Blues guard Alexander Zamanskiy also gave comments after the bronze medal match.

— Alexander, first of all, happy birthday. What’s it like to play on your birthday? Is there any special mindset?

— On my birthday, you feel a greater sense of responsibility. Of course, you want to show yourself. You can’t just go out and play halfway; you need to give 100%.

— How would you assess the team’s performance in NBL-2025/26, and what did this tournament contribute to the team’s development?

— I assess the team’s performance positively because this is probably one of the best, if not the best, seasons in history. Fourth place, almost on the podium. For a youth team, this is an excellent result.

— The main event is still ahead. What’s the preparation plan for the Final Eight? How do you evaluate the team’s condition?

— We have a little over a week to prepare for the Final Eight. Of course, the roster is limited — half of the main 2009 players have left for the Russian Championship. So we’ll prepare with the current lineup.

— The team is familiar with all participants of the Final Eight. What should be the main focus in your game?

— We need to start confidently from the first minutes. Some games this season we lost precisely at the beginning, and then played roughly equally or even better. Therefore, in the Final Eight, we need to approach all teams with maximum focus.