The international wheelchair basketball tournament took place in the Lithuanian city of Druskininkai on October 18-19, organized by the Lithuanian Sports Federation. This was reported by ‘Glavkom’ citing the Ukrainian Basketball Federation.

The country was represented by the ‘Kyiv Lions’ team, which ultimately took third place.

The victory was claimed by the RSK Kaunas team, which includes athletes representing the Lithuanian national team. The second place went to the representatives from Poland – Bialystok Start.

The Ukrainian basketball players had an unpleasant outcome in the first match against the future tournament winners – 48:72.

In the game against the Polish club, the ‘Kyiv Lions’ lost by only two points with a score of 42:44, and in the meeting with the second team from Kaunas, they won in overtime 45:44.

Comment from the director of the ‘Kyiv Lions’ team

The director and player of the ‘Kyiv Lions’ team, Yevhen Dyomin, shared his impressions from the performance:

‘The tournament in Druskininkai has already become regular, and we are traditionally welcomed very well, for which many thanks to the organizers. This Time we performed with one of the strongest lineups in recent years – there were both experienced players and military personnel. The level of the opponents was high, but we showed a worthy game. Against the Poles we lost by just one attack, and we defeated the second Lithuanian team in overtime. At the same time, we played basically without substitutions – only seven people in the lineup.’The Ukrainian men’s national team on the road to the 2027 World Cup

The national men’s team of Ukraine also managed to take first place in the group and win the pre-qualification of the 2027 World Cup, entering the main qualifying round.

In the last match of the pre-qualification, the players coached by Ainars Bagatskis defeated Slovakia with a score of 98:86.

The ‘Kyiv Lions’ team demonstrated a strong performance at the international tournament in Druskininkai, taking third place. This indicates the growth of the level of Ukrainian basketball on the international stage, as well as the potential of teams representing our country. At the same time, the success of the national men’s team in the pre-qualification for the World Cup highlights the positive trend in the development of basketball in Ukraine.