«Зенит»-2 начнет серию за «бронзу» на выезде
Zenit’s farm team will compete for bronze medals in the Fonbet Super League for the second year in a row. In the third-place series, the blue-white-sky blues will face the Moscow Region team Khimki, who also played five games in the semifinals before falling to CSKA-2.
The bronze medal series will follow a best-of-five format with a "2+2+1" structure. The first two games will be held on the opponent’s court: the game on May 2 will start at 14:00, and the one on May 5 at 19:00 St. Petersburg time. Broadcasts will be available on the website of the Russian Basketball Federation.
The third match will take place on May 11 in St. Petersburg at the Zenit Basketball Academy (Severnaya Doroga, 12). If necessary, a fourth game will be held at the same venue on May 13. Both games will begin at 18:00. Admission is free for all fans.
If a fifth game is needed, it will take place on May 17 in Khimki and start at 14:00. Here’s more about the opponent.
After finishing the regular season in third place, Andrey Maltsev’s squad knocked out last year’s finals opponent and reigning Fonbet Super League champion, Dynamo Vladivostok, in the first playoff round. The series once again ended 3-1, but this time in favor of Khimki. In the semifinals, they faced another formidable rival — CSKA-2.
In the battle with the "army team", the yellow-blues not only put up a fight but also gave the favorites a tough challenge. After winning both home games, the series came down to a decisive Game 5. Regular time wasn’t enough — it all came down to overtime, where CSKA-2 prevailed, sending Khimki into the bronze medal matchup.
Last year, Zenit-2 and the Moscow Region team crossed paths earlier — in the semifinals. That series ended decisively in Khimki’s favor, 0-3. This season, in the regular season, the St. Petersburg team also lost both games: 70–79 at home and 78–91 away. Nevertheless, under Oliver Popovic, Zenit-2 has proven in the playoffs that they are ready to fight to the end and never give up.
