Nikolay Deryugin
Nikolay Deryugin is a Soviet basketball player. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Olympic bronze medalist, World champion, European champion. One of the best center-intellectuals of Soviet basketball, a scorer, distinguished by high accuracy of shots from medium and long distances, his life in sports demonstrated loyalty to his native club and country.
Nikolay Deryugin was born in the city of Kutaisi, Georgian SSR, the city that gave the world two Olympic champions in basketball in 1972 - cousins Zurab Sakandelidze and Mikhail Korkia.
The eight-year-old Kolya, towering above all his peers, his father, Aleksander Vasilyevich, brought to the basketball section. He then brought his youngest son Valentine to this section. In the family, the brothers' sports activities were treated with understanding. Mom, Rita Nikolaevna, did everything so that both the daily routine and the nutrition of young athletes helped them to progress.
In 1975 the family settled in Tbilisi. Soon, a tall tenth-grader Kolya Deryugin received an invitation from the head coach of 'Dinamo' Tbilisi Levan Moseshvili, and until the end of his playing career, he remained a 'Dinamo' Tbilisi player. Tall, with excellent physical and technical data, Deryugin was an excellent acquisition for 'Dinamo' and soon became a key figure in his team and a headache for the coaches of rival teams. With his considerable height (207 cm), he always acted energetically, diversified and, most importantly, effectively in attack.
Then came victories in the youth team of the USSR. In 1976, Deryugin became a silver medalist, and two years later - the winner of the European Championship among juniors. In the main team of the country in 1978 Deryugin was invited by head coach - Aleksandr Gomelskiy. For quite a long time, Deryugin played in friendly matches, however, Gomelskiy took him to the Moscow 1980: Games of the XXII Olympiad (1980), and did not lose. In the match for 3rd place, the USSR national team won the Spanish team - 117:94. Deryugin worked his bronze Olympic medal to the conscience: in 8 matches with the teams of India, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Spain (twice), Italy, Yugoslavia and Cuba, he scored 67 points.
At the age of 26 - at the peak of his sports career - Deryugin received a severe knee injury and was forced to leave the big sport, without having worked out his considerable natural resource. Therefore, probably, already at a mature age, he accepted invitations and successfully played for various Georgian and foreign (in Hungary and Slovakia) teams and ended his playing career at the age of 40.
Nikolay Deryugin was born in the city of Kutaisi, Georgian SSR, the city that gave the world two Olympic champions in basketball in 1972 - cousins Zurab Sakandelidze and Mikhail Korkia.
The eight-year-old Kolya, towering above all his peers, his father, Aleksander Vasilyevich, brought to the basketball section. He then brought his youngest son Valentine to this section. In the family, the brothers' sports activities were treated with understanding. Mom, Rita Nikolaevna, did everything so that both the daily routine and the nutrition of young athletes helped them to progress.
In 1975 the family settled in Tbilisi. Soon, a tall tenth-grader Kolya Deryugin received an invitation from the head coach of 'Dinamo' Tbilisi Levan Moseshvili, and until the end of his playing career, he remained a 'Dinamo' Tbilisi player. Tall, with excellent physical and technical data, Deryugin was an excellent acquisition for 'Dinamo' and soon became a key figure in his team and a headache for the coaches of rival teams. With his considerable height (207 cm), he always acted energetically, diversified and, most importantly, effectively in attack.
Then came victories in the youth team of the USSR. In 1976, Deryugin became a silver medalist, and two years later - the winner of the European Championship among juniors. In the main team of the country in 1978 Deryugin was invited by head coach - Aleksandr Gomelskiy. For quite a long time, Deryugin played in friendly matches, however, Gomelskiy took him to the Moscow 1980: Games of the XXII Olympiad (1980), and did not lose. In the match for 3rd place, the USSR national team won the Spanish team - 117:94. Deryugin worked his bronze Olympic medal to the conscience: in 8 matches with the teams of India, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Spain (twice), Italy, Yugoslavia and Cuba, he scored 67 points.
At the age of 26 - at the peak of his sports career - Deryugin received a severe knee injury and was forced to leave the big sport, without having worked out his considerable natural resource. Therefore, probably, already at a mature age, he accepted invitations and successfully played for various Georgian and foreign (in Hungary and Slovakia) teams and ended his playing career at the age of 40.
