Basketball player of the Russian national team Shabanova on the Spartakiad: “One hotel, many teams – the feeling of having arrived at the European Championship”

Elizaveta Shabanova, center of the Russian national basketball team, who plays at the All-Russian Olympics for the Kursk region team, compared this tournament to international competitions.

The All-Russian Spartakiad of Summer Sports women’s basketball tournament among the strongest athletes of 2022 kicked off on Tuesday. The Kursk region team in its first game won the Moscow team – 74:66.

“The tournament has just started, and already pleasant emotions,” Shabanova said in an interview with . — The first official match, the first victory. The Spartakiade is also an opportunity to test our preparation for the club season. We approached the first game in good conditions, I think it will only improve.

– Many call this match a rehearsal for the semi-finals. What can you say about the Moscow team which, unlike you, plays with the same squad as in the Russian Championship?

– It seems like we don’t play with anyone as often as we do with the MBA – we constantly meet in the Premier League playoffs. We studied well. Here we are in the same group. It’s good that from the first game we had a serious opponent – there was no idea of ​​​​an easy victory and underestimated.

– Ksenia Tikhonenko, who plays for the national team of the Sverdlovsk region, says that she feels here as if she is part of the national team. What are your feelings ? And do you put your playlists in the locker room of the Kursk region, like in the national team?

– I bet, of course! New season, new playlist. And when we arrived at the hotel, the first impression was really as if we had come to a European championship to play for the national team. Familiar faces, many teams, one hotel – we all eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same room. It’s great that there is such a tournament, we are happy to participate.

The Spartakiad women’s basketball tournament will end on September 5.