UNICS is the winner of the Khayretdinov Cup!

Main team news

09.09.2023

The champions of the VTB United League won their first trophy of the off–season without losing any of the quarters and defeated the current winner of the tournament Pari Nizhny Novgorod in the final of the Khayretdinov Cup - 69:59.

The best in our team were Jalen REYNOLDS and Marcos KNIGHT, who scored 30 points for two. The key to the success of the white-greens was aggressive defense, which forced the hosts to commit twice as many turnovers – 20 against 10 from Kazan.

Khayretdinov Cup. The final. Nizhniy Novgorod.
Pari Nizhny Novgorod – UNICS (Kazan) – 59:69 (15:17, 16:20, 18:18, 10:14).
UNICS: Reynolds (17+5 rebounds+3 steals), Knight (13+5 assists+3 steals +2 rebounds), Bako (8+5 rebounds+3 steals), Kulagin (7+3 steals+2 rebounds), Green (6), Zaitcev (6), Stulenkov (4).
Pari NN: Cosey (15), Vorontsevich (14+5 rebounds), Apic (9+2 rebounds).

Neno Dimitrijevic, Louis Labeyrie and Mark Tikhonenko did not take part in the match.

Now, according to the plan, our team starts in the Kondrashin and Belov Cup. In the semifinals of the tournament on September 15 at 16:30 on the court of the KSK Arena in St. Petersburg, UNICS will again play with Pari Nizhny Novgorod.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS:

Vyacheslav ZAITSEV, BC UNICS guard:

«We understand that this is a pre-season tournament. Nevertheless, we take every game as seriously as possible. Today's victory over Pari NN is also important because in the future we will meet them at the Kondrashin and Belov Cup, as well as the Super Cup in Moscow.
The atmosphere in Nizhny Novgorod is excellent. I want to mention and thank the Kazan fans who supported us here».

Andrey VORONTSEVICH, BC Pari Nizhny Novgorod forward:

«We made a lot of mistakes. We didn't score open shots. Three open three-pointers were thrown in the last two minutes. UNICS scored tough goals today and rightfully won. We have something to work on. As I have already told my guys, this is a good lesson for us. At a home tournament, you always want to win, but there are no victories without defeats.

I admit, it was nice to see my former teammates, I hugged everyone: both the coaches and the players. But we understand that we are friends off the court, but opponents on the court».