MOSCOW, June 5, Sergey Fuks. Honorary President of the VTB United Basketball League Sergey Ivanov said that he anticipated the defeat of CSKA Moscow in the protracted series of the playoff final against the St. Petersburg Zenit, as the army team has a short bench. On Sunday, Zenit beat CSKA in the seventh, decisive match of the final series with a score of 81:75 and for the first time became the winner of the VTB United League. The Petersburg club was inferior in the course of the series 0-2 and 1-3. The army team lost in the fight for the title for the first time since 2011, when Khimki near Moscow became champions. From 2012 to 2021, CSKA became the champion nine times in a row, with the exception of the 2019/20 season, which was not completed due to the pandemic. «In my opinion, this was predictable, many basketball friends knew my prediction: if the series is short, up to three victories — CSKA wins, if the series is up to four victories — CSKA will not stand it, die and lose. A short bench, there is no one to play. Yes, and (Aleksey) Shved broke his finger today, «said CSKA fan Ivanov. The agency's interlocutor said he did not think that Russian sports are dominated by clubs from St. Petersburg. «I don't see any dominance of St. Petersburg in sports, it's your fantasy,» Ivanov said.
