Goblet of Fire: how the new United League tournament started

In addition to the main championship, the VTB United League, together with its partner, decided to hold an intra-season Cup this season, in which six Russian and two foreign teams participate. A new tournament started in Yekaterinburg, where the local Uralmash was unable to match Zenit. Read more about the match and the motivation of the clubs in the Izvestia article.

A beautiful meeting

The Cup matches will be held from October 2025 to April 2026. Tournament format: eight clubs are divided into two groups of four teams in each quartet. Group A includes CSKA, Lokomotiv Kuban, Parma and Mega. Zenit, UNICS, Uralmash and Igocea are in Group B.

In the regular season, each team in its group will play six matches (three matches at home and away) with each of the opponents of its group. The teams ranked 1-2 in the groups qualify for the Final Four. A total of 28 matches will be played in the tournament — 24 in the regular season, four in the Final Four.

"The United League is returning to the international level," Sergey Kushchenko, president of the VTB United League, previously told Izvestia. — Our joint tournament with a new betting sponsor, with the participation of clubs from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, will become official. We also hope that it will be included in the official calendar in the future.

Yekaterinburg hosted the first game of the new tournament, and it was expected to be extremely intriguing and unpredictable. The Ural team got off to an uneven start — they created the first sensation in the opening match of the league season, beating Lokomotiv Kuban in Krasnodar with a winning shot by Garrett Nevels. And then, just as unexpectedly, they lost at the IBA-MAI home arena. According to Uralmash head coach Rostislav Vergun, his players were eager to make amends for their failure in front of their stands.

The favorite from St. Petersburg also had the maximum mood — last week the blue-white-blues lost heavily at home to their principal rival UNICS. Alexander Sekulic said important words after the siren: "The main thing that I really didn't like, and that's what I hate when the team does, is that we gave up in the fourth quarter."… I always say, okay, you can lose, but how you lose is very important." After such words from the head coach, Zenit's basketball players simply have to react.

Uralmash's advantage was seen in the continuity of the squad and teamwork, while the guests had the individual skill of the stars, led by Nenad Dimitrievich. However, in the very first attack, the Macedonian received a painful blow to the knee, and his club missed the 7:0 breakthrough. The Blue-white-Blues responded with long-range hits from Zhbanov, Randolph and Vorontsevich, forcing Vergun to react with a timeout. Dimitrijevic returned to the floor towards the end of the quarter (the club's fans could exhale). By that time, the guests were already in full control of the game and finished the first ten minutes with a double-digit advantage.

Before the big break, Zenit had Randolph solo (15 points), and Martin, who quickly scored three fouls, was replaced by Martin. Uralmash held on due to the good implementation of penalties (the blue-white-blues quickly exhausted the limit of team fouls), but they could not get close to the opponent.

The attacking potential of the Uralians was affected by the absence of Nevels, Belyankov and Ellis, who was injured before the start of the season. Zenit also played in Yekaterinburg without two leaders, captain Sergey Karasev and main point guard Trent Fraser. However, the rotation of the St. Petersburg club is objectively stronger. The guests confidently took the third quarter (Zhbanov, a native of Yekaterinburg, was very good at those minutes), turning the fourth game segment into a formality. In it, both coaches tested the young players.

Big earnings

The final score is 93:63, which is how Zenit wins the first match in the history of the new intra-season Cup.

"My impressions are positive," Ilona Korstin, the general director of the tournament, told Izvestia. — We managed to make a bright celebration, attract a new audience to basketball, and implement interesting ideas. It was a special arrival of the players to the arena. They entered the hall along the orange path, with flashes of fire, feeling like real stars. Similar to major film festivals. We also made the building in the partner's corporate colors, thanks to which the TV picture turned out to be of high quality. Together with the club, we worked out a show program that did not leave the audience indifferent. Uralmash has done a lot of work, and the league's office has left for Yekaterinburg in advance. Together we were preparing for the start of the new tournament. Everyone tried, they wanted to show that it was possible to make the entourage of basketball matches special and attract a lot of viewers. Another important thing is that we played with a new ball. It's orange, a bit retro. Plus, the league, in coordination with the clubs, has made a new uniform for the teams, which is different in design from the regular season. In terms of sports, Zenit looked much stronger. The Uralmash coach was worried that the festive atmosphere might relax his guys. Perhaps he was right, but the most important thing is that they lacked two leaders — Nevels and Ellis. It is very difficult for Uralmash without these players, especially to control the shield with top clubs in the absence of Octavius.

Ilona Korstin also spoke about the financial incentive for the participants of the tournament.

Clubs receive a bonus of 2 million rubles for each intra—season Cup match played, regardless of the result. The teams that qualify for the Final Four will receive the most. The champion team can earn 20 million rubles, second place — 18, third — 16, fourth — 14.

The next match of the tournament will be held on October 15 in Perm. The local Parma will host CSKA.