Kutaisi is Champion…Again!

Zurab Talakvadze

Kutaisis successfully defended the Superleague title. Under the guidance of Kote Tugushi, the team fought hard and overcame the 0:2 deficit in the final to take town TSU and remain as the best team in Georgia.

The last game, a championship tiebreaker, was held in Kutaisi, where TSU took the first two games to take a commanding 2:0 series lead. TSU was controlling the tempo, Kutaisi was missing a lot of shots, but still remained in the series. As the saying goes, never underestimate the heart of a champion!

So, enter the last, decisive game of the finals.

TSU was never off the charts. They fought hard, they crawled back, but in the end, it was not enough to break the champion.

93:82, Kutaisi was in the drivers seat from the get go and never squandered the lead. The team remains the epitome of power in Georgia, as it captured the Champions trophy for the forth time in team history. Those four times (2016, 2022, 2024, 2025) are all coming from the brilliant work of Tugushi and his assistants, that underlines Kote’s status, as the winningest coach in the history of independent Georgian basketball. Kote is that good!

For only the second time in Superleague history, did one team came back from the 0:2 hole in th finals. Dating back to 1999 season, Vita beat Azoti from 0:2 and conquered the league for the monstrous, seventh straight time. Kutaisi defended the title as well. Kutaisi was on the ropes, but came back as a true, deserving champion, that left no doubts at all.

TSU was nervous. Well, not everybody is capable of handling the finals pressure after all. TSU did miss 16 free throws and TSU never came back to the game. The team was trying, but after all, felt short. Kutaisi is a well deserved champion and team captain Akaki Dvalishvili raised the champions cup for the second straight year.

Tugushi ia great coach. And, he has great assistants as well. He trusts his team and it showed up in the finals, where they changed the status from being the favorites to becoming those underdogs.

And, it still did not matter. Well done, boys!