Photo: Nikola Krawczyk
SKK Polonia Warszawa, Levharti Chomutov, Frankivsk Prykarpattya and Neptūnas Klaipeda will play at the 2023 Final Four on March 4-5. Here are the main storylines to follow.
Four new contenders
For the first time since 2016, there will be four Final 4 newcomers or first timers. Fifteen teams have played at previous six Final Four editions but none of them will be present in Warsaw.
TTT Rīga has played at five Final Fours, however, didn`t qualified this year. There are five other teams with multiple Final Four appearances: Basket 90 Gdynia, Good Angels Košice, Dynamo Moscow, Tsmoki Minsk and Žabiny Brno.
Nine teams have qualified at least once – Astana Tigers (Kazakhstan), Udominate Basket (Sweden), Rostov Don (Russia), Horizont Minsk (Belarus), Nika Syktyvkar (Russia), Prometey (Ukraine), Pieštanske Čajky (Slovakia), Kibirkštis Vilnius (Lithuania) and SBŠ Ostrava (Czech Republic).
Polonia Warszawa became the sixteenth team to qualify for the Final Four, followed by Levharti Chomutov, Frankivsk Prykarpattya and Neptūnas Klaipeda.
The fifth champion
Four different champions were crowned at the first six editions of Final Four.
TTT Rīga and Good Angels Košice have two titles each. Horizont Minsk and Žabiny Brno conquered one trophy each.
Levharti Chomutov may continue a Czech streak and succeed Žabiny Brno on the throne.
There are no champions from Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania yet.
Battle of the minds
Peter Jankovič has coached at three Final Fours. He won two titles with Good Angels Košice and reached the final with Pieštanske Čajky.
Aigars Nerips, Mārtiņš Zībarts (both – TTT Rīga), Natalya Trafimava (Horizont Minsk) and Viktor Pruša (Žabiny Brno) have one trophy each.
Maciej Gordon (Polonia Warszawa), Jozef Rešetár (Levharti Chomutov), Yurii Protsiyk (Frankivsk Prykarpattya) and Martynas Airošius (Neptūnas Klaipeda) will compete for the first time.
The lucky hosts
Three teams have won the EWBL trophy while playing at the home court – TTT Rīga in 2016, Good Angels Košice in 2017 and Horizont Minsk in 2021.
Belarus club decided to host the Final Four at Maladziechna, one hour outside the capital.
Pursuit of perfection
Two teams – TTT Rīga and Good Angels Košice – have registered undefeated seasons while playing at the EWBL.
Polonia Warszawa may become the third team to finish the season with a perfect record.
Final Four history
Rīga 2016: TTT Rīga, Basket 90 Gdynia, Astana Tigers, Tsmoki Minsk
Košice 2017: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Basket 90 Gdynia
Rīga 2018: Good Angels Košice, TTT Rīga, Dynamo Moscow, Udominate Basket
Rostov on Don 2019: TTT Rīga, Tsmoki Minsk, Rostov Don SFEDU, Žabiny Brno
Brno 2020: season five cancelled (Žabiny Brno-Tsmoki, Novosibirsk-Pieštany)
Maladziechna 2021: Horizont Minsk, Nika Syktyvkar, TTT Rīga, Prometey Kamianske
Pieštany 2022: Žabiny Brno, Pieštanske Čajky, Kibirkštis Vilnius, SBŠ Ostrava
Warszawa 2023: loading...