BK Žabiny Brno finished undefeated in group play in the EWBL. Beata Adamcova, shown above on offense, stole the ball nine times against Liepaja of Latvia. Photo credit: EWBL.
Brno, Jan 15 (BD) — Brno women’s team to meet in Czech Cup Final Four; mmcité1 hosts Ostrava tonight; Volejbal Brno rallies for national-TV win; VK Šelmy Brno beat VK Královo Pole again; HC Kometa splits games; and the Brno sports results and schedule.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Žabiny Brno Sweep EWBL Games
Žabiny Brno, who are enjoying excellent international results, continues to work toward staying with the top teams in the domestic Renomia ŽBL.
Žabiny (7-6) host Loko Trutnov (3-9) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
In international play, Žabiny Brno became the fourth team in EWBL history with a perfect 7-0 regular season record. They won twice in Latvia last weekend, closing out the group stage of the EWBL. They beat Liepaja (Latvia), 114-48, on Friday and the Orange Lions (Netherlands), 72-53, on Saturday.
KP Brno (11-2), which returned to league action against visiting BK ST – U19 Chance after a long holiday break and won 108-49, will go to Slovanka MB on Saturday. Then, their next league game is at home against Žabiny Brno on Feb. 1, which, as scheduling has it, will actually come after the two teams meet in the semifinals of the Czech Cup (see below).
The top team in the domestic league, probably longtime dominant team USK Praha, is guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. KP Brno looks like a shoe-in for Group A. Žabiny want to be in the top five so that they also get into Group A to play home and away games against the other top teams.
Group B has a five-round system for the sixth-, seventh-, eighth-, ninth- and 10th-place teams to determine the teams that will stay in the top league; the bottom team will be relegated.
The No. 1 seed, the Group A teams and the top three teams from Group B will eventually be sorted into quarterfinal series as part of the playoffs.
Besides the game against KP Brno, Žabiny will also have a big game against visiting BLK Slavia Praha (7-5) on Feb. 12.
Brno Teams to Meet in Czech Cup Final Four
Both of the local teams made it into the Final Four of the Czech Women’s Basketball Cup. And, as it turns out, the local teams will face each other in the semifinals later this month in Kutná Hora.
KP Brno will face Žabiny Brno on Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. in the first semifinal games. Slavia Prague faces Hradec Kralove at 5 p.m. in the other semifinal.
The next day will have the third-place game at 2 p.m. and the title game at 5 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
mmcité1 Hosts Ostrava Tonight
mmcité1 Basket Brno welcomes NH Ostrava tonight to Campus Square at 8 p.m. as they play out the string of regular season games.
Brno (3-15) has four games left in the main part of the regular season:
- NH Ostrava tonight at 8 p.m.
- at BK Opava on Saturday at 6 p.m.
- at Olomoucko on Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.
- Kingspan Královští sokoli on Jan. 29 at 8 p.m.
At the end of January, the league will split into two groups. Group A1, in which Brno played last season, is for the top eight teams in the league. They are all guaranteed another year in the top league.
Brno will be in Group A2, which is for the ninth-, 10th, 11th and 12th-place teams, and which promises to be quite competitive. Kingspan Královští (4-14), mmcité1 Basket Brno (3-15), GEOSAN Kolín (3-15) and NH Ostrava (3-15) all have similar win-loss records.
After home and away games among the Group A2 teams, the bottom team will play the top two teams from the lower league for the right to stay among the elite clubs. From April 10 to 14, the other teams of Group A2 will play for the chance to enter the playoffs, which will have several levels from April 17 to May 30.
Last Saturday, Brno was in tough against ČEZ Basketball Nymburk, the top team in the league, so head coach Lubomír Růžička gave some bench players some playing time. Only Brno five players scored in the first half and only nine played, but the future of the organization got a lot of playing time in the 116-70 loss.
Brno’s Jakub Nečas, for example, got into his second game at the top level. Nečas, who is listed at 198 cm and 83 kg, is just 15 years old, though his mugshot on the league website is from at least five years ago. He played four minutes in the loss to BK ARMEX Děčín last week and nailed his only shot, a 3-pointer. After scoring four points in a Czech Cup loss to Svitavy (74-92 on Wednesday), he was held scoreless in more than 33 minutes of play on Saturday, though he did earn some respect from the Nyburk.
Radek Farský led the team with 25 points. Filip Novotný had 20.
VOLLEYBALL
Brno Men’s Team Comes From Behind to Win
Volejbal Brno dropped the first set before roaring back to win, three sets to one, at Kladno on Monday in a match that will be nationally televised.
Brno is tied with Liberec for third place in the Uniqua Extraliga Muzi with 27 points. Karlovarsko is the top team with 36 points.
České Budějovice, which is second with 29, is where Brno will go next, on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The next home match will be against Liberec on Jan. 25.
VK Šelmy Brno Sweep Brno Series
The VK Šelmy Brno swept crosstown rival VK Královo Pole on Saturday to earn three points and stay on top of the Uniqua Extraliga Ženy standings with 46 points.
VK UP Olomouc is in second place with 44 points, and a gap has opened up to TJ Ostrava (35 points) and VK Prostejov (33). Královo Pole is in seventh place with 17 points.
ICE HOCKEY
HC Kometa Splits Games
HC Kometa won one and lost one last week. The victory was at HC Olomouc, 1-2, on Friday. The loss was on national television, a 5-0 shutout at Bílí Tygři Liberec on Sunday.
This week the team travels to Rytíři Kladno on Friday. Then, they host HC Škoda Plzeň on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Until the loss at Liberec, Brno had scored at least a point in seven consecutive games.
Kometa are currently fifth in the Tipsport extraliga with 59 points. They are one point behind fourth-place Mladá Boleslav and 11 behind Sunday-opponent Plzeň.
There are 16 games left in the regular season, which ends in the first week of March.
BRNO SPORTS RESULTS
Quick results for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the past week. Home team listed first (where applicable).
Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2019
— Women’s Basketball (Czech Cup): SBŠ Ostrava 62, KP Brno 78
Friday, Jan. 10, 2019
— Hockey: HC Olomouc 1, HC Kometa Brno 2
— Women’s Baskebtall (EWBL): Liepaja (Latvia) 48, Žabiny Brno 114
Saturday, Jan. 11, 2019
— Women’s Volleyball: VK Brno 3, Královo Pole 0
— Men’s Basketball: ČEZ Basketball Nymburk 116, mmcité1 Basket Brno 70
— Women’s Baskebtall (EWBL): Žabiny Brno 72, Orange Lions (Netherlands) 72-53
— Women’s Basketball: KP Brno 108, U19 Chance 49
Sunday, Jan. 12, 2019
— Hockey: Bílí Tygři Liberec 5, HC Kometa Brno 0
Monday, Jan. 13, 2019
— Men’s Volleyball: Kladno 1, Brno 3
BRNO SPORTS SCHEDULE
The schedule for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the next week. All dates and times subject to change. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2019
— Men’s Basketball: mmcité1 Basket Brno X NH Ostrava, 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 17, 2019
— Hockey: Rytíři Kladno X HC Kometa Brno, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2019
— Women’s Basketball: Žabiny Brno X Loko Trutnov, 5 p.m.
— Women’s Volleyball: VK Brno X Olymp, 5 p.m.
— Women’s Volleyball: Prostějov X Královo Pole, 5 p.m.
— Men’s Volleyball: České Budějovice X Brno, 6 p.m.
— Men’s Basketball: BK Opava X mmcité1 Basket Brno, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 19, 2019
— Hockey: HC Kometa Brno X HC Škoda Plzeň, 3 p.m.
— Women’s Basketball: Slovanka MB X KP Brno, 5, p.m.
The Brno Sports Report is published every Wednesday. All dates and times are subject to change. Most of the stories are about the traditional “English-speaking” team sports — football, hockey, baseball, basketball, American football, cricket, rugby, etc. — but it is also about the interesting local spectator and participation sports — tennis, badminton, running, horse racing, swimming, rock climbing, biking, etc. If you have any suggestions for what should be included, please comment below or send an email to bruno@brnodaily.cz.
