"I FEEL WE WILL WIN TOMORROW": HOW THE COACH'S PROPHECY CAME TRUE
The women's student basketball team of the TSPU under the leadership of Oleg Valerievich Smirnov defeated the nine-time champion of Siberia and entered the list of eight strongest teams that will meet in the All-Russian playoff.
The Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (NSPU) has not lost since 2012, holding its position among other teams and not interrupting its 127-match winning streak. However, this time the TSPU team also did not want to concede and literally snatched the victory from the rivals. The teams were neck and neck This, of course, made the game tense, but very interesting for viewers and fans. The result was sensational: 62:59 in favor of the TSPU!
“Before the game, the coach told us: 'I feel we will win tomorrow'. Maybe his confidence in our strength was passed on to us. We went out in the mood to play for fun, to show our best basketball, and to be one solid team on the court. The girls from the bench played an equally important role in this victory: they charged us with their support throughout the game”, — says Snezhana Suvorova.
Of course, everyone in the team is significant, but there are also distinguished players. For example, Snezhana Suvorova became the best player in this legendary match:
“During the game, I didn't think about scoring the points. The only thought was to give all the best, to leave all the forces on the site. I do not think that I was somehow very different, because each of us did everything possible for this victory. Every rebound, interception, every ball that all the girls from the team fought to made this victory possible".
The athletes noted that the NSPU team was confident in their victory, and therefore played especially calmly. All previous matches with this team were just as difficult. And this time they did their best to bring victory to the Tomsk Pedagogical. The participation of the TSPU team in the Last-8 of the Belov League will definitely go down in the history of women's student basketball in Siberia and basketball at the TSPU.
"Thank you for your congratulations! Many people (including teachers, university graduates, and students) sincerely congratulated me today. It's nice that you believe in the team! — Elena Senchenko, a student of the TSPU says. — The team spirit helped to win. We went with anger and throughout the game, we were actively defending and attacking. In general, TEAM play and desire helped. The entire cast supported and believed in each other for 40 minutes".
As the coach of the TSPU team Oleg Valerievich Smirnov, candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor of the Faculty of physical culture and sports, said, it was not so easy to join the training process after a break due to the virus, therefore, from the very beginning of the season, the athletes trained hard, gained shape:
“There were no definite tactics against the NSPU team: we played offensively, as usual, defended ourselves by the zone, since the opponents' players were superior to our team in height, so we needed reinforcing guardianship under the basket. I said the girls to play for their own pleasure. I think the most important thing is that basketball is fun for the players themselves".
The strong desire of our athletes to win was also noted by the coach of the NSPU national team Andrei Volkov:
“Already during the game at the divisional stage (51:46) the TSPU gave us a lot of trouble, we tried to draw conclusions, but we did not succeed in what we wanted to accomplish... Congratulations to the team of the Tomsk Pedagogical and Oleg Valerievich on a well-deserved victory and going to the next stage”.
We are proud of you, our athletes, and are ready to support you in the fight against the Ural Federal University in Tomsk and Yekaterinburg!