Start of the Basketball Women’s Superliga: Is UBI Graz ready for the title?

In the previous season it was actually a foregone conclusion that the newly formed starting group St. Pölten and the series champions from Klosterneuburg would meet in the final of the win2day Basketball Women’s Superliga. But things turned out differently.

Completely surprisingly, UBI Graz eliminated the Duchess in the semi-finals, only to narrowly lose in the final against the second top team from Lower Austria.

After that, however, no stone remained unturned in either Klosterneuburg or St. Pölten. The Duchess initiated a change in the summer and separated from the Zderadicka sisters and successful coach Franz Zderadicka. In the state capital, the license application was withdrawn, so that the first-class St. Pölten basketball project ended after just one season (including the title!).

Star signings

The path for UBI Graz towards the title seems to be more open than it has been for a long time and the Styrians are planning their offseason accordingly: With their strong performances in the preseason, the team led by Simone Sill aroused the interest of top Austrian free agents such as ex-college star and 3×3 national player Rebekka Kalaydjiev.

In August the transfer deal was perfect and the fast guard player signed a contract: “I have been following the team for several years and am very excited about both the BDSL and the CEWL (Central Europe Women League, note). The players and coaches “Really motivated, which makes me even more excited for a successful year. My goal is to support the team as best as possible, ideally to help them win the Austrian championship.”

“Bekki was our absolute preferred candidate,” said team boss Tanja Kuzmanovic shortly after the commitment was announced. The coach expects a lot from the “new guys” in the team, especially offensively.

In addition to the development player, the Graz women also managed to bring Anja Knoflach back to the Murstadt. The tall three-point shooter most recently played with Kalaydjiev at Southeastern University. The chemistry between the two new top performers should also be right. Knoflach makes no secret of the great ambitions of her new club: “Our goal as a team is clearly defined: We want to finally bring the championship title back to Graz!”

However, three well-known departures have to be compensated for. Three long-standing supporters, Eva Fellner, Camilla Neumann and Laura Bischof, are leaving the club. All three were absolute fan favorites and will leave a void in UBI’s game. In order to fill this gap, the Graz women became active a third time in the offseason and made improvements with Elma Dautovic. The Slovenian international is known as an all-rounder.

Internationally required

“Elma is a very interesting young player and brings a lot of international experience. It can be used in a variety of ways, which is why our expectations are correspondingly high. She is dominant offensively and will hopefully give us the consistency we need,” said Kuzmanovic, commenting on the latest commitment.

The UBI players recently demonstrated that the expectations – of the entire team – are appropriate at the “Energie Steiermark Trophy”, in which the Graz women were able to beat top Slovenian and Croatian teams and thus secure the first trophy of the season .

Sill and Co. will also be in action internationally this weekend. Yesterday, Friday, the first CEWL game took place in Slovakia (against Slavia Banska Bystrica, 3:30 p.m.). Even though they lost 48:82, the next chances await today, Saturday, against MBK Ruzomberok (6 p.m.) and tomorrow, Sunday, against DSK Brandy’s na Labem (1:30 p.m.).

“We are pleased that we can compete in the CEWL International this weekend. The tournament is very strong. We will try to present ourselves in the best possible way and improve our performance from game to game,” said captain Sill modestly before the official start of the season.

Unlike the rest of the league, which starts playing today, Saturday, the UBI players will not start in the win2day BDSL until next week due to their international commitments. For the first time since winning the championship in 2019, the Styrians are favorites!

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