A new national men’s basketball championship began in Chisinau. The team of the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu” suffered a defeat in the first match, IPN reports.

This was beaten by the Rybnitsa team 61-83. Yevgheny Zaikov scored 17 goals for the team from Chisinau, while Rozentsvit scored 13 points for the Rybnitsa team. The championship also involves Gamma Cahul, Basco Balti and Speranta Chisinau.

“Only five teams will compete in the championship as the difficult financial situation has an impact. The situation in other kinds of sport is similar. Established teams withdraw,” president of the Moldovan Basketball Federation Alexandr Abramchuk stated for IPN.