Alexey Savrasenko - the star of domestic basketball

Among the bright stars of the national basketball - our contemporaries, stands out a colorful figure four times winner of the European Cup, the winner of the European Championship-2007. This Alexei Savrasenko, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, one of the best players of CSKA, who completed his sports career, but continues to serve his favorite basketball.

The beginning of the way

Alexey's sports career was predetermined from childhood. Born in February 1979 in Krasnodar in a family of volleyball players, where the father for many years was a playing coach, Alexei Savrasenko, whose photo is presented in the article, did not follow in the footsteps of his parents. Since 11 years I got carried away by basketball. He was watched by trainer Yu. Kostetsky and invited to the sports school. The boy already stood out among his peers at that time.

Seeing from the side of the ward a great desire and a serious attitude to training, Kostetsky sent Alexei to the Stavropol Sports Sports School at the school of the Olympic reserve. For four years the boy has considerably grown in vocational training, having signed the first contract with the Krasnodar command. His salary already then was $ 200.

The way of the legionary

From the age of 17 he began to play for the Greek Olympiakos. The team was restricted to foreign players from other countries. To gain a foothold in the first team, Alexei Savrasenko took Greek citizenship and even changed his name. Under the passport of this country, he became Alexis Amanatidis. As part of one of the strongest teams of the Greek championship, headed by the famous Dusan Ivkovic, Alexei Savrasenko won the Euroleague season 1996/1997. In 2000, due to the position of the club's management, he could not take part in the Olympic Games, speaking for the national team of Russia, although he was previously involved in the junior team.

In 2000, he presented his candidacy for the draft NBA. However, a citizen of two European countries Alexei Savrasenko, a basketball player whose height is 215 cm, did not present any interest to any of the teams. Overseas career he will not happen, but another year the athlete will spend in the Greek "Peristeri", not having enough playing time in "Olympiakos". Having proved himself on the good side, the basketball player with the role of the center player was returned to the main team of the Greek championship, in which he became the owner of the Greek Cup - 2002.

Peak of sports career

In 2003 Alexey was invited to CSKA, a team with which the main achievements in the sports career of a basketball player will be linked. Alexey Savrasenko will leave it only in 2009 at the age of 29 years. CSKA - the leader of domestic basketball, not conceded for all the time finding in it an athlete of any national championship. The brightest victory for him was the victory in the Euroleague in 2006. Together with the team he will be the winner of the "Final Four" three times, but 2006 will never forget. The day before, the coach changed. In CSKA, after three years of failure on the European continent came the Italian Ettore Messina.

He listened to the opinion of each player, discussed tactics on the field and built relationships on trust. After three years of failure (the team reached the final, but eventually lost the decisive matches, including an insulting defeat in Moscow) CSKA pulled out a victory against "Maccabi". Despite the illness of the son of the head coach, who missed an important training before the game with Barcelona, the team in Prague achieved the title by making a gift on the eve of Victory Day. Moscow met the favorite team with banners "We won, Dad!". This was a kind of a report to the great coach Alexander Gomelsky, who died in 2005.

Champion of Europe

Sending the team to Spain at the 2007 European Championships, no one believed in the victory of the Russian team, which did not achieve it for 22 years. Before the wards of David Blatt , the task was set to a maximum - a ticket to the Olympic Games - 2008. Guaranteed the owner of this privilege were only the Spaniards, the current champions of the world. Two more teams could reach the Olympics, taking second and third places respectively.

But Russia, for which Alexei Savrasenko played in the starting five, its main center, was the first, having won in the final in a dramatic match with the hosts of the championship. About how it was an exciting match, says the score - 60:59. On the joy of Vyacheslav Fetisov, the head of Rossport, signed a document on conferring the title of Honored Masters of Sport of Russia to all twenty-two players, including the American-Israeli coach. This is the first time that a foreigner received such a title.

Completion of a career, personal life

After deduction in 2009 from CSKA Moscow due to a loud statement during the match about the inadequacy of the playing time provided by the coach, Alexei Savrasenko, a world-class basketball player, will replace five clubs. Will finish his career in the season 2012/2013, speaking for "Locomotive Kuban". He will no longer be in the team of 2012, which became the bronze medalists of the Olympics. But at the European Championships - 2013, at the end of his sports career, he will participate in several games. However, in general, the performance of the national team will be a failure.

Leaving the parquet, Alexei Savrasenko did not leave the sport, doing the development of his favorite kind, being the chief manager of streetball, street basketball in 3x3 format. Being in the RSE the head of the department, he does a lot for the development of the amateur direction - not only school and student, but also basketball for wheelchair users.

He was one of the torchbearers of the Olympic flame of the Sochi Olympics.

The athlete is married, two daughters are raised in the family. My wife's name is Irina, so far neither she nor the children have anything to do with the sport.