“Most of the participants in the current Super Cup played in the Euroleague, all teams are strong” — the captain of Lokomotiv-Kuban

club defenderLokomotiv Kuban On the eve of the VTB United League Super Cup, 22-year-old Vladislav Yemchenko said the tournament had brought together some very strong participants, and also said that despite his young age he was ready for the role of captain in his team. .

The VTB United League Super Cup will be held in Moscow from September 22-25. CSKA, Zenit, Lokomotiv-Kuban, UNICS and two Serbian clubs Partizan and Mega will take part in the tournament.

– In the Super Cup, your rivals in the group were Zenit and Partizan. Interesting opponents. Is not it?

“I think all six teams are strong in this tournament,” Yemchenko told . — And most of them have already played in the Euroleague. Therefore, I don’t want to single out either group.

We have to play three games in four days. I think it’s not that easy, but we will be very serious in every game, to fight. Last year there were four participants in the tournament. Now two Serbian teams have been added. It’s very cool to be able to play with foreign teams and test your strength.

Will you win a trophy?

– I think so. Of course we want to take first place and win the Super Cup, but at the same time we understand that new head coach Alexander Sekulich only recently joined us as he was at EuroBasket (Sekulich also leads the Slovenian team – approx. TV”). At the training camp, his assistants Zhuzha Yuritsa and Roman Semernikov replaced him. We will only have the second training session under the guidance of Sekulich. We have not yet had the time to analyze everything in depth, but we understood the manager’s idea and we will implement it on the pitch. Tomorrow will be the first game – we will see. We hope everything will be fine.

– During the offseason, you became the captain of Loko. How heavy is it? You are only 22 years old.

“I don’t want to perceive the captain’s armband as some kind of burden, some kind of burden. Yes, it is a certain responsibility. It is clear that you should become one of the leaders of the team. Both on site and off. It’s a difficult time. Here, it is important never to give up, to help, to challenge the partners when necessary. I am happy to have been given this role. I hope everything will work out. I was the captain of the youth team in my life, and being the captain of the main team is cool.

I don’t want to keep the idea that it will be difficult. We are a team, not just one person. In other words, it does not mean that you are a nanny watching over everyone. All the guys are adults, everyone understands perfectly why they are there. We want to win the championship and everyone knows their responsibilities. I repeat, as captain, at certain times, I will have to offer something, help, take responsibility, and I am ready for that.