Photo Caption: Petr Holík, who is a master with assists, passed the 400-point mark during Kometa’s win at České Budějovice on Monday. Photo Credit: Roman Kantor.
Brno, Feb. 17 (BD) — Zbrojovka goes to Olomouc Saturday; HC Kometa starts flourish of games with a win; Brno women’s hoops teams prep for postseason; and Basket Brno rests up for Group A1 play.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Offense Close, but Unsuccessful
In the second half against Zlín on Saturday, FC Zbrojovka had several excellent chances to score, and win: Antonín Růsek missed from point blank range; Jan Sedlák drilled a shot that missed to the left by inches; and, again, Rusek missed on a crossing pass.
Finally, in the 88th minute, Ondřej Pachlopník, barely under control, took the ball down to the end line and somehow passed it back to Daniel Fila, who took a shot. Damián Bariš got the rebound in front of the goal, missed with his left foot, got the rebound and finally blasted the ball into the goal with his right foot. It put Brno on the scoreboard.
Or so it seemed.
After the referees consulted the instant replay, they found that Fila had fouled a Zlín defender on his second attempt at a shot, just a moment before Bariš put the ball in the net. The goal was called off and Zbrojovka couldn’t capitalize in the final minutes.
At least the scoreless tie was worth a point in the standings.
Zbrojovka (3-5-11, 14 points) remains just above the relegation zone in 15th place. The bottom three teams will be relegated at the end of the season to the league where Brno played the past two seasons.
Brno goes to Olomouc (6-9-4, 27) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
For updated information and the schedule for FC Zbrojovka Brno games, go to the league website at https://www.fortunaliga.cz/. The team website is at https://fczbrno.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
MEN’S HOCKEY
Kometa Starts Final Push with a Win
HC Kometa started the final three-week push to finish the regular season with a 4-5 victory in České Budějovice on Monday.
It was the fourth time that Kometa beat České Budějovice this season.
Brno had lost nine of 11 games before a weeklong break. There are nine games remaining — roughly one every three days — until the end of the regular season on March 7. Kometa plays at HC Energie Karlovy Vary tonight (Wednesday) at 5:30 p.m. and hosts PSG Berani Zlín on Friday at 6 p.m.
HC Kometa is currently ninth with 56 points in the standings.
For the league website, go to https://www.hokej.cz/tipsport-extraliga. For updated information and the schedule, go to the team website at https://hc-kometa.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Brno Teams Finish Solid Regular Seasons
The Renomia ŽBL will complete the regular season this week, with both local teams advancing to the postseason. KP Brno (12-5), currently third in the league, beat BLK Slavia Praha (8-8) last Saturday, 97-60. They finish the regular season at ZVVZ USK Praha (16-0) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Fourth-place BK Žabiny Brno (11-6) have just one game left in the regular season, at Levharti Chomutov (6-9) on Friday at 6 p.m.
When the 18-round regular season ends on Saturday, the top four teams move into Group A, which will play home-and-away games among each other. The fifth- to eighth-place teams will move to Group B, which will play to determine the four teams that will move into the postseason bracket and the best-of-five quarterfinal series (and one team that will play in a relegation series with the top team from the lower league).
Both Brno teams made it to the quarterfinals of the Czech Cup tonight. Unfortunately, both got tough draws: KP Brno plays Sokol Hradec Králové today (Wednesday) at 5:30 p.m.; Žabiny Brno plays ZVVZ USK Praha on Feb. 24 at 5 p.m.
For updated information and schedules for both local teams, go to the league website at https://www.zbl.basketball/. The KP Brno team website is: http://www.kpbrnobasket.cz/ The Žabiny Brno team website is: https://www.bkzabiny.cz/ Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Brno Rests Up for Group A1,
Three Players to the National Team
Basket Brno made a valiant fourth-quarter comeback but could not sustain the momentum in the quarterfinal round of the Hyundai Český pohár, losing, 89-84, to BK JIP Pardubice.
The team, which is enjoying the best season in its history, will now have time to rest up for Group A1. The first game is at Opava on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.
In the meantime, Brno has three players — Šimon Puršl, Radek Farský and Richard Bálint — who were selected for the national team for games against Lithuania (Feb. 20 at 6:30) and Belgium (Feb. 22 at 3:30 p.m.) in Vilnius. Both games will be on ČT Sport.
Group A1 includes the top eight teams from the regular season. They each play home-and-away games with each other team. The top six teams move on to the postseason. The seventh- and eighth-place teams will need to earn their way with an extra step. The ninth- to 12th-place teams from the regular season are in Group B and play each team twice at home and twice away. The top two teams from Group B will play the bottom two teams from Group A in order to earn a place in the postseason bracket. The bottom team of Group B will play in a relegation series with the top team from the lower league. The postseason is scheduled for April 9 to May 22.
For updated information and the schedule for Basket Brno games, go to the league website at https://www.nbl.cz/. The team website is: https://basketbrno.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
