Babkina, Elina

Careers in Latvia

Elina Babkina met basketball, then when her mother worked in the cafe of the WEF factory, there was a gym nearby and there she watched the boys playing. After school, she went to the playground to play with them until her parents sent her to the Ridzene girls' basketball school. Here she began to be constantly attracted to the national team of various ages. At the age of 14, he made an official debut in the cadet team of Latvia in the qualifying round for the European Championship (under 16) . On April 18, 2003, in a match with the national team of Serbia and Montenegro, Elina, having played 18 minutes, scored the most points in the team - 10. The national team failed, taking 5th place in the group, she did not reach the final round of the championship.

The year 2004 in Elina’s life was very busy in terms of sporting events. Firstly, in April, she helped the junior team (under 18) to get into the final round. Among teammates, Elina was the smallest in age, everyone was 3 years older than her, but Babkina stood out not only for this, she scored the most points - 12 on average per game. Secondly, she participated in Division “B” of the European Championship (under 16) , where she showed a brilliant game, gaining 21.9 points, 4.9 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, the national team did not win laurels at these tournaments. Thirdly, Elina graduated from school and signed a contract with the legendary Latvian club TTT Riga , where she began her ascent to the basketball olympic.

After the end of the 2004/05 season, Elina was called for reinforcements in the youth team for the European Championship (under 20 years) , where she was again the youngest by 3 years. Here in the Czech Republic, the Latvian team won a bronze medal, and Babkina was one of the best in the team, having played all 8 games on average 22.8 minutes, gaining 10.4 points per game (the second indicator in the team). Two weeks later, she already played with the junior team for getting into the final of the European Championship (under 16 years) .

The 2005/06 season was crumpled due to the series of injuries that Elina received at the site, was recovering, waiting in the wings for the game, and again injured. A very difficult period in life began, she began to receive little game practice at the club, and as a result, they stopped calling her to the team.

The revival of Elina began in 2007 , she became the champion of Latvia , was recognized MVP playoffs. But the club management did not rely on her as a player. In the new season (2007/08), she spent on the site only 16 games in the championship of Latvia , participated in the Euroleague , having played 8 matches. Despite this, she received a call to the national team, which was preparing for the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympics . On June 9, 2008, in the match with the Senegal national team , the long-awaited debut in the “adult” national team took place - 8 minutes, 3 points, 2 assists. Participant of the Olympic Games - 2008 , played in two games: with Belarus (13 min) and Australia (9 min, 3 points). And again she was the youngest in the team.

Before the start of the 2008/09 season, Elina moved to another Latvian club CBC “Cesis”, where she fully received a game practice - 30 matches in the championship, participation in the European Cup , where the team reached the 1/16 finals. But the main event was the final matches for the Latvian Champion title with TTT Riga . Elina won the gold medal, winning the series 3 - 0 with the team. At the end of the season, Babkina repeated the success of 2005 with the Latvian youth team, again the bronze medal of the European Championship , the Russian national team was defeated in the 3rd place match - 78:75 (22 points) on Elina’s account). The leader of the European Championship in points scored - 21, 8 per game, getting into the symbolic five of the tournament. ^[one]

November 24, 2008 was in a traffic accident while in the passenger seat. As a result of the accident, the basketball player received a concussion. ^[2]

Careers in Europe

In the wake of this success, Babkina signs a contract with the French club Chal-Les-O-Basket and is relegating to one of the strongest basketball leagues in Europe. But success in this team Elina did not reach. Challe-Les-O-Basket in the championship of France took 8th place, did not get into the Eurocup zone.

In May 2010, Elina signed a contract with one of the leaders of the Polish basketball Lotus. In August 2010, Elina played a key role in the fact that the Latvian team managed to qualify for Eurobasket 2011 from second place in their qualifying group , having spent on average 20 minutes per game on the court.

The season 2010/11 in the "Lotus" Elina had a great time, she was a regular player in the main team. In January 2011, the Greek specialist Georg Dikeoulakos took the helm of the team. From this moment their teamwork in basketball comes ^[3]

When the trainer Georgs Dikeulakos appeared, I generally revealed myself. I thanked the coach many times for letting me play. But he answered: "You deserve it."

Despite the fact that the club in the Euroleague did not leave the group, Babkina received an invitation to participate in the “Euroleague All-Star Game” on March 8, 2011 . She became the second Latvian basketball player, after Anete Jekabsone-Jogota , who received an invitation. 15 minutes, 1 selection and 1 transmission - performance statistics. Also in March, Elina won the Polish Cup , where she was recognized as the MVP of the tournament, gaining 17 points in the final match. ^[four]

On April 6, 2011, Elina Babkina was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks in the third round of the draft of the Women's National Basketball Association at number 29. Before Babkina, only two of the representatives of Latvia found themselves in the WNBA draft, Ieva Kublin and Zane Tamane . ^[five]

At the European Championship 2011, she was again the leader in her team - 14.4 points (3rd indicator of the championship), 4.2 assists per game, but taking the 8th place, the Latvian team did not qualify for the Olympics - 2012 .

In 2011, Elina signed a contract with one of the leaders of the Turkish basketball Fenerbahçe , which Georg Dikeulakos began to train from this year. The start of the season was overshadowed by a legal knee injury sustained on November 11, 2011 . To recover, due to the current limit on legionnaires plus in her place during the season, American Cappie Pondexter was bought, Elina lost her place in the first team in the national championship games. But in the Euroleague matches she went to the site in 14 games, a participant in all the matches of the Final of the eight Euroleague . After the end of the season, on the recommendation of doctors, Elina decided to undergo a full rehabilitation course after knee surgery, in this regard, she refused to speak for the national team in the qualifying tournament of the European Championship - 2013 ^[6] .

Before the 2012/13 season, she signed a 2-year contract with the current Romanian champion “Municipal” from Targoviste , who began to coach Georg Dikeulakos ^[7] . True, the career in the Romanian club ended in December 2012 , when the club announced a reduction in the payroll by 50 percent, Elina decided to leave the team. By that time, 20 matches had been played on her account (12 in the championship and 8 in the Euroleague ), 22 and 28 minutes respectively, on average she spent on the court. January 3, 2013 Babkina concludes a contract until the end of the season with Prague “ZVVZ USK”, which also played in the Euroleague ^[8] . With the Czech club, she becomes the champion of the Czech Republic , while playing in one of the final match of 4.

In the summer of 2013, Elina performs at the European Championship , where the national team took off already at the 1st stage. In the three games she played, she spent 28.7 minutes on the site (3rd indicator in the team), scored an average of 9.3 points (2nd indicator) and made 2 assists (best indicator). The basketball player begins the new 2013/14 season in the Croatian Novi Zagreb. After the Zagreb club flew out of the Euroleague in February 2014 , Elina left the team.

Career in Russia

In March 2014, Babkina again returned to Georg Dikeulakos , who coached Hope . In Orenburg, she won the silver medal of the Russian Championship , participated in the Final of eight FIBA ​​Euroleagues .

Club Performance Statistics (Average)

* - the best indicator in the team

Statistics of performances for the Latvian national team (average)

* - the best indicator in the team

• Bronze medalist of the European Youth Championship : 2005 , 2009 .
• Champion of Latvia : 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009.
• Champion of Turkey : 2012 .
• Champion of the Czech Republic : 2013 .
• Silver medalist of the Latvian Championship : 2006.
• Silver medalist of the championship of Russia : 2014
• Silver medalist of the Baltic League : 2009.
• Bronze medalist of the Baltic League : 2007, 2008.
• Polish Cup Winner : 2011.
• Member of the Euroleague Star Match: 2011 .

• Profile of Elina Babkina at the office. TKBL website (tour.)
• Elina Babkina's profile on eurobasket.com
• Statistics Elina Babkina at the office. FIBA Europe website
• Statistics of Elina Babkina in Latvia (Latvian)
• Statistics of Elina Babkina in France (inaccessible link) (French)
• Profile of Elina Babkina at the office. RBF website
• Elina Babkina: “Playboy refused the offer”