First semifinal will see a lot of “firsts” as the Final Four host Horizont Minsk region will play a road game against Prometey Kamianske.
Quick facts: Prometey Kamianske finished the quarterfinal series against Kibirkštis MRU Vilnius on March 15, by allowing less than 60 points in both games. Horizont didn`t traveled to Pieštany as Slovakia enforced new restrictions.
What`s at stake
Horizont may become the second team from Belarus to reach the EWBL final. Tsmoki Minsk did it in 2019 at Rostov on Don. Prometey is the first team from Ukraine in the Final Four and will try to add more silverware after the first place finish in the Ukraine Cup.
Domestic competitions
Prometey has a 39-0 record in all competitions, including 30-0 in Superleague, 6-0 in EWBL and 3-0 in Ukraine Cup. Kamianske team started the playoffs with a 2-0 success against Dynamo Kyiv on March 29 and 31.
Prometey advanced to the finals and will face Kyiv Basket in the best-of-five series. The first two games will take place at Kamianske on April 7-8, while the third match is scheduled on April 10 at Kyiv. If necessary, the series will continue on April 11 and 13.
Horizont finished the regular season with a 20-1 record, including a 2-1 successs against city rivals Tsmoki Minsk. The playoffs started on March 14. Horizont destroyed Gomel in the best-of-three quarterfinal series (120-36 at home and 108-31 on the road), followed by a 3-0 rout in the semifinal series against BDU Tsmoki on March 21-25.
Big time players
Prometey have four Ukraine national team players – point guard Olga Dubrovina, shooting guard Vita Horobets, forward Uliana Datsko and power forward Veronika Liubinets. Oksana Mollova has plenty of experience just like Murray State standout Ke`shunan James and evergreen Baylor superstar Bernice Mosby.
Horizont lineup feature five players from Belarus national team – Yuliya Rytsikava, Volha Ziuzkova, Anastasiya Verameyenka, Viktoryia Hasper and Yanina Inkina. Foreign players include Serbian guard Irena Vrančič and Louisiana State University graduate Adrienne Webb.
Your time, as of April 3: Kyiv 13:00=Minsk 13:00=Moscow 13:00=Syktyvkar 13:00=Riga 13:00=Central European time 12:00=Košice 12:00=Brno 12:00
Schedule
Saturday, April 3, semifinals
13:00 Prometey Kamianske – Horizont Minsk
15:45 TTT Rīga – Nika Syktyvkar
Sunday, April 4, medal games
11:00 Bronze medal game
13:30 Final
15:30 Award ceremony
PLAYOFFS 2021
(A1) Prometey – Kibirkštis MRU (B4)
March 14, game one, Kamianske: 87-59
March 15, game two, Kamianske: 71-58
Prometey wins the series: 158-117
(A2) Pieštanske Čajky – Nika Syktyvkar (B3)
Canceled due to new restrictions in Slovakia
Nika Syktyvkar advances
(A3) Young Angels – Horizont Minsk (B2)
Canceled due to new restrictions in Slovakia
Horizont Minsk advances
(A4) SBŠ Ostrava – TTT Rīga (B1)
March 2, game one, Riga: 57-89
March 3, game two, Riga: 55-89
Rīga wins the series: 112-178
Final Four experience
TTT Rīga: 2016-2019, 2021
Horizont: 2021 NEW
Prometey: 2021 NEW
Nika Syktyvkar: 2021 NEW
THE PLAYOFFS 2020
(A1) Žabiny Brno 153-92 SBŠ Ostrava (B4)
(A2) Pieštanske Čajky 155-126 Rostov Don SFEDU (B3)
(A3) Nika Syktyvkar 128-145 Tsmoki Minsk (B2)
(A4) Orange Lions 133-167 Dynamo Novosibirsk (B1)
THE PLAYOFFS 2019
(A1) Tsmoki Minsk 122-107 Pieštanske Čajky (B4)
(A2) A3 Basket 143-159 Žabiny Brno (B3)
(A3) Rostov Don SFEDU 177-166 Lulea Basket (B2)
(A4) Olimpia Grodno 121-188 TTT Rīga (B1)
THE PLAYOFFS 2018
(A1) Good Angels 151-107 Pieštanske Čajky (B4)
(A2) Al Riyadi 123-144 Dynamo Moscow (B3)
(A3) Lulea Basket 172-173 Udominate (B2)
(A4) Liepājas Papīrs 108-179 TTT Rīga (B1)
Final Four history
Rīga 2016: TTT Rīga, Basket 90 Gdynia, Astana Tigers, Tsmoki Minsk
Košice 2017: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Basket 90 Gdynia
Rīga 2018: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Udominate Basket
Rostov on Don 2019: TTT Rīga, Tsmoki Minsk, Rostov Don SFEDU, Žabiny Brno
Brno 2020: season five cancelled due to pandemic (Žabiny Brno-Tsmoki, Novosibirsk-Pieštany)
FORMAT
Playoffs: March 2-16, 2021; best-of-two
A1 – B4, A2 – B3, B2 – A3, B1 – A4
Final Four: April 3-4, 2021
Our geography
EWBL member countries so far: Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Turkey.
Follow us on
Website www.ewbl.eu
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EWBL
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/EWBLLive
Live TV http://ewbl.eu/live-tv/
Comments