Club

History

"Astana" Basketball Club is founded in March 2011 sponsored by Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna.

Achievements:
  • 11-times Champion of National Lague of Kazakhstan — 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023
  • 10-times Champion of Kazakhstan Cup — 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
  • Silver medalist of National League of Kazakhstan — 2015/2016
  • Silver medalist of Kazakhstan Cup — 2022
  • Bronze medalist of the West Asian Super League — 2023
  • Bronze medalist of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup — 2017
  • VTB United League:
    • Season 2011/12 - 7th place in the group
    • Season 2012/13 - 5th place in the group, playoff - 1/8 final
    • Season 2013/14 - 5th place in the group, playoff - 1/8 final
    • Season 2014/15 - 8th place in the regular season, playoff - 1/4 final
    • Season 2015/16 - 15th place in the regular season
    • Season 2016/17 - 8th place in the regular season, playoff - 1/4 final
    • Season 2017/18 - 10th place in the regular season
    • Season 2018/19 - 6th place in the regular season, playoff - 1/4 final
    • Season 2019/20 - 10th place in the regular season
    • Season 2020/21 - 12th place in the regular season
    • Season 2021/22 - 10th place in the regular season

 
In 2014, Astana took part in the European club competitions for the first time - the FIBA Challenge Cup, completing its performance at the Top 16 stage, one step away from the quarterfinals.

In 2013-2016, VTB League also had the Best Kazakh Player prize for the regular season. Anatoliy Kolesnikov and Anton Ponomarev both have 2 awards. Furthermore, Ponomorev is Kazakhstan top scorer of the League (741 points).

Coaching staff:
  • The very first head coach of Astana was the Italian specialist Matteo Boniciolli, who headed the coaching staff of the capital team for two seasons - 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. Under his leadership, the young team became the Champion of Kazakhstan for the first time and won the first trophies of the Kazakhstan Cup, and also made it to the playoffs of the VTB United League in the 2012/2013 season.
  • In the 2013/2014 season, the coaching staff of Astana was headed by the Serbian specialist Aleksandar Trifunovic, who led the team to the absolute championship of the National Championship of Kazakhstan, and also stabilized Astana's position in the standings and also led the team to the playoffs of the VTB United League.
  • From February 2015 until the end of the 2015/2016 season, the team was coached by Lithuanian specialist Ramunas Butautas. A well-known specialist in Europe, who from 2007 to 2010 coached the Lithuanian National Men's Team and won the Eurobasket bronze and a ticket to the Beijing Olympics, where it took the honourable 4th place.
  • In the 2016/2017 season, the team mastered the Greek basketball school under the supervision of Ilias Papatheodorou. An ambitious coach with extensive experience working with young teams, he led the Greece U-20 youth team.
  • Half of the 2017/2018 season, our guys were also mentored by the Greek specialist Kostas Flevarakis, who left the post of head coach after the New Year and was replaced by Mikhail Karpenko, who worked at the club as a coach.
  • For three seasons 2018/2019 - 2020/2021 at the helm of the coaching staff of our team was Emil Raikovich, with whom Astana had the most successful season (2018/2019) in the history of the club and became the most titled men's team in the country, and Emil Raikovich himself was awarded the title of the best coach of the VTB United League.
  • In the 2021/2020 season, the capital club signed a contract with the Serbian specialist Darko Russo.
  • In March 2022, Serbian specialist Dejan Parezhanin became an acting head coach of the club.
  • Before the start of the 2022/23 season, as a head coach of the club has been appointed Oleg Kiselev.
  • In February 2024, the head coach of Astana was the Greek specialist Fotios Takianos.