FC Zbrojovka has a seven-point lead in the standings. On Friday, they could take another big step toward promotion. Photo credit: FC Zbrojovka Brno.
Brno, Oct 13 (BD) – Basket Brno have two tough opponents coming up; local women’s basketball teams remain undefeated; VK Královo Pole beat VK Šelmy Brno in five sets; HC Kometa win and highlight their Assist King; and Lokomotiva women go to Plzeň with fourth place on the line in the competitive women’s football league.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Look to Build Lead On Friday
FC Zbrojovka will continue their quest for promotion back to the top football league of the Czech Republic when they host Vyškov this Friday at 5pm.
Zbrojovka (8-1-1, 25 points) have a four-game winning streak in the Fortuna:Národní Liga. They are on top of the standings by seven points, with AC Sparta Praha B (6-0-4), who lost 2-1 in Brno on October 1st, FK Varnsdorf (5-3-2) and SK Líšeň 2019 (5-3-2) all with 18 points.
Unfortunately, Brno were eliminated from the MOL Cup last Wednesday when they failed to get revenge at Varnsdorf. The two teams drew 2-2 in the domestic league in August, but Varnsdorf won 4-2 in extra time to stay alive in the MOL Cup.
SK Líšeň 2019 will go to FC MAS Táborsko on Sunday for a 3:30pm game.
For updated information and the schedule for the Fortuna:Národní Liga, go to the league website at https://www.fnliga.cz/ . The FC Zbrojovka team website is at https://fczbrno.cz/. The SK Líšeň 2019 team website is at https://www.sklisen.com/ .
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Basket Brno Faces Pardubice Tonight
Basket Brno have an all-around solid team that, unfortunately, has had trouble finishing things off, be they the ends of quarters and halves or, like last Wednesday on national television, a team: USK Praha stayed close, took the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for a 90-99 victory in Brno.
After righting the ship with an 87- 82 victory against NH Ostrava, Brno now have a big task ahead against two winning teams. They travel to BK JIP Pardubice today for a 5:30pm tip off.
“We are not satisfied with our performance in the last two matches and [today] we have a chance to turn over the card and improve our game,” said Brno’s Šimon Puršl.
According to Brno head coace Lubomír Růžička, defense will be the key: “We have a difficult task ahead of us in Pardubice. We will try to improve mainly on the defensive half and build on the performances that helped us at the beginning of the season.”
Then, on Saturday, defending-champion ERA Basketball Nymburk come to town for a 6:30pm game at Hala Vodova.
ERA Basketball Nymburk (6-0) are at the top of the standings, as usual. BK Opava (5-1), BK JIP Pardubice (3-1), Basket Brno (4-2) and USK Praha (4-2) are the other teams with winning records.
The Kooperativa NBL has 12 teams. The first phase of the season sees each play each other, home and away; the 22nd round is in mid-January. The top teams move on to the second phase to determine postseason seeding. The weakest teams face relegation. Last year, Basket Brno reached Group A1 for the first time when they finished fourth in the first phase of the season with a 13-9 record.
For updated information and the schedule for the Czech National Basketball League, go to the league website at https://nbl.basketball/. The Basket Brno team website is at https://basketbrno.cz/.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Žabiny Brno, KP Brno Among Undefeated Teams
The first weeks of the season look to be a continuation of the 2020-21 season with the same top teams starting well: ZVVZ USK Praha (3-0), Žabiny Brno (4-0), Sokol H. Králové (3-0), and KP Brno (3-0) are all undefeated.
KP Brno host Slovanka on Saturday at 3:30pm, then travel to Sokol H. Králové on October 23rd.
Žabiny Brno host Levhartice Chomutov on Saturday at 5pm, then take a month off from the domestic league in order to play EuroCup games, including one tomorrow against visiting Castors Braine of Belgium at 6pm.
The first match-up between the two Brno powerhouse teams is set for November 20th in Zabovresky.
VOLLEYBALL
VK Královo Pole Earn Brno Respect
Visiting VK Královo Pole served notice to cross-town rival VK Šelmy Brno last Thursday when they persevered to win in five sets. Generally, VK Šelmy Brno have been the better team, including winning the league title only two seasons ago.
Overall, though, both teams are in the bottom half of the UNIQA Extraliga Ženy standings. VK Šelmy Brno have five points through five matches and VK Královo Pole have four through four matches.
Královo Pole host Prostějov tomorrow at 5pm.
Volejbal Brno, the local men’s team, won their first match in straight sets at VK Lvi Praha. The first home match is on Monday against Zlín at 7pm.
For updated information and the schedule for UNIQA Extraliga Muzi, go to the league website at https://www.cvf.cz/extraliga-muzi/. For updated information and the schedule for UNIQA Extraliga Ženy, go to the league website at https://www.cvf.cz/extraliga-zeny/. The website for the Volejbal Brno men’s team and the VK Šelmy Brno women’s team is at https://www.volejbalbrno.cz/. The website for VK Královo Pole is at https://www.vkkpbrno.cz/.
HOCKEY
HC Kometa Win, Highlight Assist King Holík
After dropping four of five matches, HC Kometa got a 3-1 victory at home against Bílí Tygři Liberec on Tuesday.
The victory moved the team up a notch to ninth place in the Tipsport extraliga standings, with 16 points. League-leading Třinec have 27 through the still-early phase of the season.
The HC Kometa website has published a detailed analysis of its Assist King: “Statistical window: Petr Holík holds the club record in assists”. Holík recently notched his 132nd assist to become the team’s leader. His 0.72 assist/game average is more than double that of others who have worn the blue-and-white sweater and he continues to increase that total.
The next game is on the road this Thursday at Rytíři Kladno, starting at 6pm. The next home game is Sunday against HC Olomouc. The puck drops at 5pm.
For updated information and the schedule for the Tipsport extraliga, go to the league website at https://www.hokej.cz/tipsport-extraliga. The HC Kometa team website is at https://hc-kometa.cz/.
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Fourth-place on the Line in Plzeň
Lokomotiva Brno-Horní Heršpice ran into a buzz saw when second-place AC Sparta Praha arrived in South Brno last Saturday, scored three goals at six-minute intervals to take control of the game from the start and left town with a dominating 1-7 victory.
Anna Pušková scored in the 77th minute for Brno, but it was far too little and far too late.
This weekend Lokomotiva go to FC Viktoria Plzeň on Sunday for a 2:30pm start for a battle for fourth place in the top women’s league.
Lokomotiva (3-1-4, 10 points) are in fourth. Plzeň (2-2-4, 8) would like to leap-frog Brno into the top half of the standings. Both teams have scored 13 goals this season; Plzeň have the advantage in goals allowed, 17-22.For updated information and the schedule for 1.liga žen, go to the league website at https://zeny.fotbal.cz/.
