The VTB United League SuperCup will be in Moscow from September 22 to 25. We have prepared a guide for you on this tournament.
What is the SuperCup?
The SuperCup is the VTB United League pre-season tournament, which is organized with Moscow Sports. It was held for the first time last year and had been very bright.
This time 6 teams will fight for the Cup named after the legendary coach Alexander Gomelsky at once. The tournament promises to be spectacular!
What teams will participate in the tournament?
The 4 best teams at the end of the 2021/22 VTB United League season are Zenit, CSKA, UNICS and Lokomotiv Kuban, as well as two well-known Serbian teams from Belgrade – Partizan and Mega.
Zenit became the 2021/22 season champion, so the task of the St. Petersburg club will be an attempt to consolidate the status of the best VTB United League team. Zenit has already got its first trophy in the new season – in the final of the Kondrashin and Belov Cup, the hosts confidently beat CSKA (79:58).
CSKA is the Super Cup champs. After losses in the last season finaland at the Belov and Kondrashin Cup, the Army team are probably motivated enough to fullfill their collection with another trophy
UNICS retained the head coach Velimir Perasovic and got a powerful transfer campaign, so the Kazan team should not be underrated in any case. Moreover, UNICS is really missed the big wins!
Lokomotiv Kuban hired the Slovenian national team head coach Aleksandar Sekulic and held Jaylen Barford in the squad. Together with talented young players, they will definitely try to surprise all basketball fans.
Partizan led by Zeljko Obradovic is probably the main favorite to win the Super Cup. The Serbian team returned to the Euroleague this year and brought to Moscow a bright squad consisting of 6 Serbian and 6 foreign players.
Mega has been the main talent supplier in European basketball in recent years. This year there is only one player over the age of 23 in the Serbian team. We can expect that young players will have enough skill and desire to play against more experienced teams because in the Serbian League last season, Mega stopped one step away from the final.
Who will claim the status of the Super Cup star?
You better follow these players.
Alexey Shved (CSKA)
He is still the brightest Russian player, who has many different individual awards and achievements. Shved has already recovered from the injury received during the final series of last season and is again ready to surprise the fans with his efficiency and effectiveness.
Daryl Macon (UNICS)
UNICS newcomer was the leader in Panathinaikos last season. With a stellar squad and Velimir Perasovic Macon will have every opportunity to become the key player of the Kazan club in the offense in the upcoming season.
Caleb Homesley (Zenit)
Zenit rookie became MVP of the Kondrashin and Belov Cup after a brilliant season in Germany. It is likely that the American will become the new leader of the VTB League champions.
Jaylen Barford (Lokomotiv Kuban)
Loko new head coach Alexander Sekulic has already promised his players fast and attacking style of play. For sure, this will appeal to Jaylen Barford, who scored about 20 points on average per game last season.
Kevin Punter (Partizan)
The key sniper of the Serbian team last season got into the Top-5 of the EuroCup, consistently delighting fans with great performance. If Partizan can win the Super Cup, then Punter will be the main candidate not only for the best scoring player of the tournament, but also the MVP.
Malcolm Casalon (Mega)
The 21-year-old French guard was one of the leaders last season. In the updated Serbian team roster, Casalon will not only be an important element in the offence, but also one of the most experienced players who can become a leader of the team.
How are the rosters of the Super Cup teams look like?
Zenit St. Petersburg will bring 14 basketball players to the Super Cup.
Denis Zakharov (#3), Andrey Toptunov (#4), Caleb Homesley (#5), Sergey Karasev (#7), Igor Volkhin (#8), Dmitry Kulagin (#9), Artem Klimenko (#12), Andrey Zubkov (#20), Sergey Toropov (#21), Richard Solomon (#23), Thomas Wimbush (#26), Joe Tomasson (#32), Trey Tompkins (#33), Vitaly Fridzon (#70)
There are also 14 players in CSKA Moscow.
Casper Ware (#2), Vladimir Karpenko (#3), Artem Komolov (#4), Andrey Desiatnikov (#5), Ivan Ukhov (#7), Anton Astapkovich (#8), Samson Ruzhentsev (#10), Semen Antonov (#11), Deyan Davidovac (#14), Livio Jean-Charles (#17), Dallas Moore (#24), Nikola Milutinov (#33), Nikita Kurbanov (#41), Alexey Shved (#91)
UNICS will arrive in Moscow with powerful squad. There are 15 players in the Kazan team roster.
Sergey Polstianov (#0), Nenad Dimitrievic (#1), Jalen Reynolds (#3), Daryl Macon (#4), Louis Labery (#7), Viacheslav Zaitsev (#8), Stanislav Ilnitskiy (#11), Georgiy Zhbanov (#12), Anthony Brown (#21), Aleksandr Razumov (#28), Mikhail Kulagin (#30), Vince Hunter (#32), Andrey Vorontsevich (#33), Artem Zabelin (#35), Maxim Tkachenko (#61)
Lokomotiv Kuban got 14, most of them are young players.
Jaylen Barford (#0), Aleksandr Shcherbenev (#1), Kirill Elatontsev (#12), Dmitry Uzinsky (#13), Anton Kvitkovskikh (#16), Valery Kalinov (#18), Darral Willis (#21), Sergey Dolinin (#23), Andrey Martyuk (#25), Ivan Paunic (#31), Zakhar Vedishchev (#33), Egor Sychkov (#34), Vladislav Emchenko (#35), Konstantin Dotsenko (#44)
There are many famous names in Partizan, among the 12 players there is also a basketball player who played in Russia – Danilo Andusic.
Tristan Vukcevic (#1), Zach Ledey (#2), Balsa Koprivica (#5), Kevin Punter (#7), Joannis Papapetrou (#11), Giorgie Jovanovic (#13), James Nunnally (#23), Mathias Lessor (#26), Uros Trifunovic (#32), Danilo Andusic (#33), Yam Madar (#41), Mikhailo Petrovic (#77)
Mega also brought 12 players to Moscow.
Danko Brankovic (#2), Luka Bogavac (#4), Matej Rudan (#6), Alexa Uskokovic (#7), Malcolm Casalon (#10), Nikola Djurisic (#11), Petar Kovacevic (#12), Luka Tserovina (#13), Ahmad Rory (#14), Andrija Grbovic (#16), Jovan Shlivanchanin (#21), Mihailo Mushikic (#33)
Tournament format and schedule
6 teams are divided into 2 groups. Each team will play 2 games in its group.
Group A: Zenit, Partizan and Lokomotiv Kuban
Group B: CSKA, UNICS and Mega
The winners of the groups on the decisive day will compete in the final game, the teams that took 2nd place in the groups will play for bronze medals, a game for the 5th place will also be played.
September 22
17.00 (Moscow time). CSKA – UNICS
20.00 (Moscow time). Partizan – Lokomotiv Kuban
September 23
17.00 (Moscow time). Zenit – Lokomotiv Kuban
20.00 (Moscow time). CSKA – Mega
September 24
17.00 (Moscow time). UNICS – Mega
19.30 (Moscow time). Zenit – Partizan
September 25
14.00 – the 5th place game
17.00 – the 3rd place game
19.30 – final
For convenience, you can save the schedule as an image.
How to get to VTB Arena?
VTB Arena is accessible both by metro and by car.
Arena address: Moscow, Leningradsky Prospekt, 36
Nearest metro station: Dynamo (green line), Petrovsky Park station (yellow line, turquoise line)
Arena location on the map:
Arena from a bird’s eye view:
Where to buy tickets?
You can buy a ticket by following the link. One ticket includes all the games of the game day.
Where can I watch the games?
If you still cannot attend the arena in Moscow for some reason, then be sure to turn on the live broadcast on the TV channels of Match holding, on the Start TV channel, as well as on the United League official website and application for Android and iOS.
