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Odesa Bags Championship

12 May, 00:00

By Petro MARUSENKO, The Day The two most recent Ukrainian championship playoff matches between Kyiv's TsSKA-RIKO and Odesa's BIPA-Moda were worthy of a final. The army players (TsSKA-RIKO), who only needed a victory, were long in the lead but lost the initiative at the end, and Hennady Uspensky's shot 11 seconds before the game-end pulled the Odesa boys ahead 67:65. However, 11 seconds is a long time in basketball. Dmytro Korabliov shot, but the Odesa players seemed able to defend themselves. The referees decided otherwise. They pronounced the goal made and awarded a penalty shot to the visitors. Korabliov made a precise shot, and the score tilted 68:67 in Kyiv's favor.

Odesa coach Vitaly Lebedintsev was ready to settle the matter with fists, but then he remembered he already has a fist-fight on his record from Mykolayiv. He substituted the pen for the sword and wrote a protest, threatening not to turn up for the fifth match. The protest was, however, turned down, and the Odesa team appeared at the crucial match, with an iron determination to win. Win they did at 78:67, and took the title of Ukraine's champions.

Yet, the army players also had something to be proud of. The team, in fact newly formed this year, was best in the regular championship and, as a result, won the silver. "The boys have only played together a year," said TsSKA senior coach Andriy Podkovyrov, "and next season we look forward to successes in both the Ukrainian and European arenas."

Newspaper output №:

№17, (1999)

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Society