Girls - with a margin, men - with a hassle: how the Russian national basketball 3x3 teams made it to the semifinals of the Olympics

The Russian 3x3 basketball teams approached the final round of the group stage of the Olympic tournament in Tokyo in different states. Women's almost guaranteed herself a second place, and in order to win a direct ticket to the semifinals, she needed to prevail over modest Italy. The male, on the contrary, was in a difficult position. Alexander Zuev and the company were to meet with the Serbs who occupied the first line, and defeat could mean the end of the Games for them.

As for the girls, they could well guarantee themselves a way to the semifinals in advance, if they won both yesterday's matches. But if they managed to cope with the noticeably inferior Romanians in the class without any problems, then with the French women everything turned out not so well. The Russians surpassed their counterparts in all key indicators, except for one - hits from medium and close range. Only 6 accurate shots out of 17 is a disastrously low rate. And in such conditions, it was not at all shameful to lose only 14:17.

Unlike the tricolor ones, the “Scuadra Azzurra” did not have such a slender defense, so making passes and throwing without interference in the “paint” was much easier. However, in the first half of the match, the Russians chose a different tactic and decided to test their long-range artillery again. This time it was not successful. In the first five minutes, Alexander Diratsuyan's wards made eight shots from beyond the arc, but only one of them hit the target. As a result, the minimum advantage of the national team in the first half is 6: 4.

The Russians spent the second five-minute period much more confidently, and the reason for this was the shift in emphasis towards throws from under the hoop. The partners began to use the 192-centimeter Anastasia Logunova more often, who finished the meeting with five points and five rebounds in her track record, and Yulia Kozik began to act much more actively. True, Olga Frolkina still became the most productive with six points, who herself made a gift for herself on her 24th birthday. Domestic basketball players won with a score of 17: 9 and confidently took second place in the group, leaving only American women ahead. For reaching the final and the opportunity to take revenge on the US team, they will compete with the Chinese.

“The coaches would not forgive us the defeat from the Italians. And we ourselves would not forgive ourselves. A very necessary victory, because in case of defeat, they would play the quarterfinals. We were very tired in four days, we need a break to prepare well for the semifinals and finals. I completely forgot that the birthday is tomorrow. Thank you for reminding me, ”RIA Novosti quotes Olga Frolkina.

The men, on the other hand, did not succeed in completing their performance on a high note at the group stage. The Serbs clearly demonstrated why they are leading the national team rating according to the FIBA ​​version with a colossal margin, and defeated the Russians with a score of 21:10. In the first 105 seconds, the Balkans secured themselves a reserve of four points, after which they played for fun. Vladimir Agababyan's team was hampered by a huge number of losses (eight versus four) and a catastrophically low percentage of hits from beyond the arc (1/12). At the same time, the team leader's game was a real disappointment. Alexander Zuev was tightly closed by opponents, which is why he was honored with only five throws, none of which turned out to be accurate.

If this match opened the program of Tuesday, the Russians risked to leave the tournament ahead of schedule, despite their bright performance the day before. After four rounds, they had only one victory in their assets, but they prevailed over Japan and Latvia and returned to the dispute for a place in the playoffs. However, by the time they entered the court, the fate of the national team had already been decided, since Poland and China lost in their matches and could not equal the number of victories. The only question left was with whom they would have to sort things out in the quarterfinals. The Netherlands could not stand the test of strength in the last match and lost to Latvia a direct ticket to the semifinals, and they themselves went to Russia, which they had already beaten in Tokyo.

The match for the right to challenge medals turned out to be "valid".

Domestic basketball players spent the first three and a half minutes with shock, after which they were leading with a score of 10: 4.

Moreover, half of the points were scored by Zuev, who was clearly determined to rehabilitate himself for a failure in the game with Serbia.

But it was not possible to keep the high pace.

The quartet of Aghababyan very quickly used up the limit of command comments, which not only made each subsequent foul penetrating, but also limited their defensive capabilities.

Dimeo van der Horst and Ross Beckering began to get too much freedom under the ring, which they enjoyed with pleasure.

As a result, the first scored eight points, and the second six.

With 69 seconds left, the Dutch closed the gap to a minimum of 18:19 and almost made a comeback. However, by this time they themselves had earned seven team fouls and also lost the opportunity to defend too hard. This allowed the 204-centimeter Ilya Karpenkov to gain more freedom under the shield, which predetermined the outcome of the confrontation. In the end, it was the oversized Russian who scored two most important points, first scoring after rebounding, and then pushing his opponent through and throwing in from half a meter. Thus, he helped the national team to reach the semifinals. There, the team of Aghababyan will again meet with the Serbs.