Russia’s Ilona Korstin and Maria Stepanova with the European champions’ trophy (RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov)
Russian women’s basketball team have returned home after being crowned European champions.
They touched down in Moscow bearing flowers and the trophy after beating Turkey in the final in Poland.
Boris Sokolovsky’s charges put their success down to simple hard work.
“We are very glad and happy that we’ve won. Our aim was gold. We prepared and trained a lot. It was tough in the beginning, but thanks to our solid work we succeeded in our task. And thanks to everyone who supported us,” Ilona Korstin, Russia’s shooting guard, explained.
It was the third win for Russia’s women in the EuroBasket, ensuring they qualify for next summer’s Olympics in London.
Here is a similar story
Former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Fratello is returning to the bench this summer as head coach of the Ukraine National Team that will be participating in 2011 FIBA Eurobasket tournament in Lithuania. Fratello spent seven seasons as head coach of the Hawks winning 50 games for four consecutive seasons from 1985-1988. After leaving Atlanta, Fratello had head coaching stints in Cleveland and Memphis and is now a full time broadcaster for the New Jersey Nets. During his career Fratello has amassed a career record of 667-548.