Basketball club «Astana» will play two home series of matches of the National League against «Aktobe» at once to transfer the return away series with the red-whites to the capital. The games will be held in Nur-Sultan at the arena of the Saryarka cycle track on December 23, 24, 26, and 27. The first two and last games start at 19:30, and the Sunday match kicks off at 15:00 Nur-Sultan time.
ATTENTION — We ask all fans to read the Rules for visiting home matches carefully. The entrance to the arena will be carried out only through the Northern door (from the side of Orynbor street, opposite the gas station).
Aktobe is a Kazakh basketball club from Aktobe, founded in 2017.
Achievements:
- Winner of the Major League Championship of Kazakhstan: 2018/2019
The roster of the team: «Aktobe» was quite an extensive reshuffle last season, and only seven players have stayed in this team this season. All foreign players left the team — Mitchell Tabet, Kent Hanson, Vladislav Gusak, Emir Azizov, and Bakhtiyor Nasriddinov, who moved to «Kaspian.» Azim Yagodkin, Aidarkhan Toktarov, Roman Grekov, Nikita Lytykh, Nikita Fedchenko, and Ruslan Trenin left the team from Kazakhstan. Sergey Bormatenkov, Vasily Petrishinets, Alexander Evdokimov, Alexander Papshiv, Bakyt Makhanalin, Bogdan Lasch, and Stanislav Rovovoy remained from last season. However, Rovovoy had already farewelled to the team from the start of the season. Konstantin Dvirny returned to the team after two seasons at Tobol. Anton Ponomarev continues his revived career at Aktobe. Also, at the beginning of the season, a couple of young players were announced — Danil Rudometkin and Baynazar Omarov, who played in the farm team last season. Before the first game, two players joined the team — Kazakhstani Arsen Teleuov, the team's coach, and American point guard Dalvin Houg, who had previously played in the Armenian team «Gyumri.» A little later, another American joined the team — forward Davrius Wright. Already in December, «Aktobe» was replenished with three Russian players — powerful forward Alexander Tikhonin, a pupil of CSKA, and spent the last seasons with «MBA» and «TEMP-SUMZ-UMMC» from Russia. A point guard Boris Nazmutdinov once played in the second team of UNICS Kazan and also managed to play in «Ufimets» and Kupol-Rodniki. Forward Ivan Belousov spent previous seasons in the VTB Youth League as part of «Zenit 2.» Another addition is a young Kazakhstani from the local second team of the last season — Bibarys Aitkulov.
Head coach: The loudest change happened in the coaching staff. Elen Shakirova, one of the most experienced basketball players of the past, has become the head coach this season. Helen — Olympic champion, European champion, twice silver, and once bronze medalist in Europe. She played in the Soviet and Russian teams «Hatis,» «CSKA Moscow,» «Dynamo Moscow,» «Baltic Star,» «Vologda-Chevakata,» «Nadezhda and Energia.» She spent the middle of her career in foreign teams «Valenciennes-Orsha» — France, «Lotos Gdynia» — Poland and «Gambrinus Brno» — Czech Republic, and also played in the women's NBA with «Houston Comets.» She started as a coach at the «Dynamo Kursk «basketball club and coached the Russian «Inventa» and the Polish «Energia.»
Standing position: «Astana» is confidently at the top of the standings, eight games — eight wins. «Aktobe» played ten matches and won only four, which still provides them with third place. This season «Aktobe» has two defeats from «Tobol,» one victory and three losses in games with «Barsi Atyrau,» and three wins and one defeat against «Kaspiy»
Leaders of the rivals: Anton Ponomarev is the leader of the red and white. According to unofficial data, Americans Dalvin Hogue and Davrius Wright performed well, but both Americans have already left the team. In addition, the backbone of Aktobe team consists of Kazakhstanis Alexander Papshiv, Konstantin Dvirny, Vasily Petrishinets, and Sergey Bormatenkov. On the other hand, Russian newcomers played only two games, and Alexander Tikhonin, Boris Nazmutdinov, and Ivan Belousov showed themselves well.
History of games: In the National League, the teams met eight times and once in the Cup of Kazakhstan — our team won convincing victories in all competitions.
Interesting Facts:
- Anton Ponomarev defended the colors of «Astana» last season.
The matches will be held in Nur-Sultan, on the arena of the Saryarka cycle track. The first two and last games start at 19:30, and the Sunday match kicks off at 15:00 Nur-Sultan time.
The entrance to the arena will be carried out only through the Northern entrance (from the side of Orynbor street, opposite the gas station), according to the scheme:
Detailed information about the tournament, tournament tables, schedule, and match results are published in the
Tournaments section.
