FIMBA WORLD LEAGUE ZADAR 2015

       FIMBA World League 2015 took place in Zadar, Croatia from 11 to 16 of April 2015. Zadar was proud to be hosting the prestigious basketball event – the edition of the FIMBA World League with seven categories.

Zadar is the place where Croatian basketball was born in 1930. The city is considered as one of European basketball capitals. During this tournament Maxibasketball teams all around the world played in the outstanding basketball halls where fans tasted all the gorgeousness of basketball. The tournament’s participants were accommodated in beautiful resorts. Also Zadar is a city of exceptional history and reach cultural heritage, a city of tourism and sports. Zadar is a 5th largest city in Croatia situated in the heart of the Adriatic. Zadar has a rich history dating from prehistoric times to the present days. Zadar is a trove of archaeological treasures and monuments of ancient, medieval and Renaissance periods. 600 cultural monuments are located in the historical center of the city and in the nearby surroundings. The city has a pleasantly mild Mediterranean climate with a large number of sunny days. Zadar is a living, vibrant city, enjoyed by residents and guests.

   FIMBA World League’s matches began on Saturday 11th April 2015 in the morning. Ukraine was presented by one men team M50+ age category and two women teams F30+ and F45+ age categories.

Ukrainian female team F30+ won the gold medals. The team consisted of Kyiv’s Ladies’ Legion Club players with invited Elena Zhukova from MBC “AMIGO”, Nikolaev. From June 26 to July 6, 2014 Elena Zhukova in a line-up of the Ukrainian “Ladies’ Legion” team took part in FIMBA European Maxibasketball Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where Ukrainian female team won the silver medals. 2014-2015 years is the period of creation of the new Ukrainian Maxibasketball female generation. Elena Zhukova and her teammates share common values and basketball philosophy. The team’s members have strong assurance that it is the honor to wear Ukrainian national symbols. They desire to be extraordinary personalities on and off the court. Ukrainian female players believe in the power of having a strong basketball IQ, making hard work and playing basketball aggressively with an understanding of team’s concepts, tactical and technical applications of coach’s plans. They constantly develop comprehensive athleticism and advanced mastery of basketball knowledge and skills. Sports ladies demonstrate selfness play and the dedication to their team. They endure impossible ordeals through this crunch time.

Let’s look at the winning way of Ukrainian female team “Ladies’ Legion” F30:

11.04.2015. Ladies’ Legion – ZKK Zadar, Croatia – 80 : 55;

13.04.2015. Ladies’ Legion – Brasil 35, Brasil – 56 : 44;

15.04.2015. Ladies’ Legion – Filozof Bratislava, Slovakia – 54 : 43;

16.04.2015. Final day. Ladies’ Legion – SKK Versan Kaunas, Lithuania – 65 : 64.

In the final game Ladies’ Legion met with worthy opponent – SKK Versan Kaunas team. The Lithuanian team’s roster was full of high-caliber players with strong bodies who played strong and tough basketball. On the other side the squad of lady-legionaries had no a hesitant players. Ukrainian team started the game with offensive first quarter 25 : 19. The second quarter was mostly controlled by Ladies’ Legion team. After two periods they built the lead 41 : 30. At halftime Lithuanian coach made adjustments in the offensive strategy and SKK Versan Kaunas team reduced the margin in the third period to 44 : 52. In the fourth term Lithuanian team made a strong 20 : 13 run. But Ukrainians players had more points on the scoreboard than the Lithuanians and declared their golden victory 65 : 64 when the clock ran out of time. Elena Teteruk had 28 points in this victory and finished the tournament with ultra-impressive 104 points. In this game Elena Verhun also produced double-digit scoring with 20 points. Ladies’ Legion delivered compelling evidence that they were the best players in FIMBA World League.

More senior Ukrainian Maxibasketball female and male players showed more modest results. Ukrainian female Ladies’ Legion team F45+ age category received the eighth place in the nine-teams group. Ukrainian male Caro AMIGO team earned the seventh position at the tournament M50+ age category of nine teams.

Aleksander Petrov (Nikolaev, Ukraine) was registered at the roster of MOLDOVA team (Moldova) M55+ age category. A. Petrov helped MOLDOVA team to win the fifth place in ten-teams group M55+ age category. He was recognized as the best scorer of MOLDOVA team with total 46 scoring points and as Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the team.

The participants of FIMBA World League’s Tournament were very grateful to the organizers for the basketball of the highest level, friendship, joy and happiness. Basketball veterans intend to build together a better basketball and consummate Maxibasketball community.   FOTO