The 1st ESBA Championship tipped off in the Turkish resort of Belek on Sunday, with 24 teams taking centre stage at the Gloria Sports Arena for the first day of action. While some teams began on the tournament on the positive note, others will have plenty of chances to redeem themselves throughout the upcoming week.
Biggest win: Bitsa Team — 53 points (103-50 vs Interwood-Project 44)
Top scorer: Inessa Khodova – 32 points (Carpathian Bears)
Most rebounds: Rolandas Matulis – 14 (Small Planet)
Most assists: Olga Kostyukovych – 7 (Carpathian Bears)
M40/45
Musson 88-57 Project 44
Musson Sevastopol put together a dominant display to mark the opening day of the championship with an 88-57 thrashing of Project 44 from Moscow. The winners were led by the unstoppable Serhii Savin who knocked down 6-of-8 shots from beyond the arc for a total of 26 points.
Valerii Iachun added 17 points, while Sergiy Tsymbal chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds. Alexander Kuznetsov scored 25 points for Project 44, with Gintaras Einikis adding 14 points, but the Muscovites started the games with a loss.
Victoria Residences 70-98 Small Planet
All eleven players contributed to a good start of the championship for Lithuanian side Small Planet, who eased past Victoria Residences from Bulgaria 98-70.
Virginijus Sirvydis collected a team-high 17 points for the winners, Egidijus Mikalajunas added 14 points, while Giedrius Vasilkevicius scored 11.
Evtim Banev and Delcho Melev scored 23 and 21 for the Bulgarians respectively.
Carpathian Bears 56-78 Baltic Virtuozo
Baltic Virtuozo celebrated an impressive 78-56 victory against Carpathian Bears, with Mait Kabin firing in 31 points to go with five rebounds and six assists. Andris Liepins added 22 points in the victory.
Oleksandr Zakrevskyi was the top scorer for the Ukrainian side with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sergii Felbaba chipped in with 12 points and eight boards.
M50
Krivbass Tonus Veteran UA 45-70 Dinamo
Dinamo pulled away early and stayed ahead for the entirety of the game to notch up a 70-45 win against Krivbass Tonus Veteran club.
Aleksei Ugriumov had 22 points and seven rebounds for Dinamo. Vladimir Akinin added 14 points and five boards. For Krivbass, Andriy Berezhinskyy was the only player in double digits with 22 points.
Interwood-Project 44 50-103 Bitsa Team
There was little intrigue in the game between Bitsa Team and Interwood-Project 44, as Bitsa team out outscored their opponents 103-50.
Mikhail Shumkov had a team-high 25 points for the winners, Mikhail Borisov scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Aleksandr Egorov chipped in with 13 points.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Fidii collected more than half of the team’s points, finishing the game with 29 points and nine rebounds to his name.
M55
Team Hamburg 33-55 Izmir Veterans
Izmir Veterans snatched up a big 55-33 victory against Team Hamburg, with the Turkish side controlling events on the floor from tip off to the end-of-the-game buzzer.
Mustafa Bicakci had a game-high 17 points for the team from the host nation, Mustafa Battalgazi added 13 points and nine boards. Detleff Hopp was the top scorer for Team Hamburg with 7 points.
Auto-Queen 42-62 TOP Trust
TOP Trust from Estonia started the championship with a big 62-42 victory against Auto-Queen from Nizhnevartovsk in Russia. The victors pulled away in the third quarter, which they won 17-4 and handed themselves a sizeable cushion before the final frame.
Ermill Kuldkepp had 23 points and six rebounds, while Rein Kludsoo collected 13 points and six boards for TOP Trust. No players reached double digits for Auto-Queen, with Oleg Melekhov finishing with a team-high 7 points.
M65
CSKA Veterans 65-36 Latvia
CSKA veterans began the tournament with a convincing 65-36 victory against Latvia, with Igor Sakharov leading the way with 16 points. He was the only player in double digits for the winner. Victor Petrakov scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Evgeny Abramov chipped in with seven points.
For Latvia, Janis Vaivads collected a team-high 8 points. Juris Redlihs and Juris Dambitis added six points each in a losing effort.
M70
Nevsky Veterans 22-39 Kazan
Kazan got the ball rolling in Belek with a comfortable, yet very low-scoring 39-22 victory against Nevsky Veterans. Rinard Urazmanov was the top scorer with 11 points, with Vladimir Zalgiadimov and Vladimir Krivoruchenko adding 10 each.
Mikhail Kiselev was the top man for Nevsky with six points and eight boards.
W35
Baltijec 60-70 Carpathian Bears
Carpathian Bears used a solid bench contribution to outlast Baltijec St. Petersburg in the opening game to snatch a 70-60 win after pulling away in the final quarter.
Inessa Khodova put up a tournament-high 32 points and added eight boards, with Tetyana Yasicheva and Olga Kostyukovych contributing 10 each.
Meanwhile, the starters contributed all 60 points for Maximum. Natalia Alekseeva and Zenfira Rogutina played all 40 minutes and scored 18 points each. Elena Grishina had 17.
W45/50/55
Kamane 15-49 Spartak
Led by 14 points and five rebounds by Trebilova, Spartak from Saint Petersburg cruised to a 49-15 victory against Kamane to start the championship on a high note. Golovinskaja also reached double digits with 10 points to her name.
For Kamane, Danute Puodziuniene collected six points, while Zita Vilnone contributed with five points and six boards.
Maximum 43-47 Estonia
Estonia nipped Maximum in the second half of the opening game to take a nail-biting win 47-43. Led by Katrin Aava, who scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, the Estonians pulled away at the end of the match. Ulle Jarv scored 20 points, collected eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
Liudmilia Spiridonova collected a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds for Maximum, but no other player managed to reach double figures for the Russian side.
