BC Rustavi ( ka, საკალათბურთო კლუბი რუსთავი) is a professional basketball club based in the city of

Rustavi Rustavi ( ka, რუსთავი ) is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli and southeast of capital Tbilisi. It has a population of 130,100 (2021), making it the fourth most populous city in Georgia. Its economy is ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The club competes in the

Georgian Superliga The Georgian Basketball Super League ( ka, საკალათბურთო სუპერლიგა, Sakalatburto Superliga), also known as the Georgian Top League, is the highest professional basketball league in Georgia. The first season ...

, and plays its home games in the Rustavi sports arena.

History

The club was founded in 1991 as BC Azoti, and began competing in the newly established Georgian national league. It is one of only 2 clubs (the other being

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 ...

) to have participated in the league continuously throughout its existence. Rustavi challenged for high positions in the league on a consistent basis, and recorded numerous top 3 finishes, always falling short of winning trophies. The club's fortunes changed in 2006, when it acquired major sponsorship from the investment company 'Energy Invest'. They were now able to attract some of the best Georgian players to the club, as well as foreign imports. As a result, Rustavi convincingly won 4 league championships in a row, between 2007 and 2010. In addition, they won the Georgian cup in 2009, and numerous smaller national competitions. At the end of the 2009/10 season, 'Energy Invest' announced that the level of funding for the club would diminish, forcing them to compete with a young team and modest ambitions for 2 years. In 2012, the funding increased once more, and the squad was considerably strengthened. Rustavi took part in various international competitions on several occasions, such as the

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir Kor ...

in 1997, 98 and 99; the Eurocup in 2007; and the

EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

in 2008, but failed to advance beyond the qualifying rounds on each occasion.

Honours

** Winner (5): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2021 ** Runner-up (4): 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006 * Georgian Cup ** Winner (1): 2009 * Dadiani Memorial Trophy ** Winner (5): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 *Korkia/Sakandelidze Memorial Trophy ** Winner (5): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2020

Players

Current roster

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:
- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team.
*

Rati Andronikashvili Rati Andronikashvili ( ka, რატი ანდრონიკაშვილი; born 19 March 2001) is a Georgian player for the BC TSU Tbilisi of the Georgian Superliga. Listed at and , he plays the point guard and shooting guard positions. ...

* Craig Osaikhwuwuomwan

References

External links

Official Website

Basketball teams established in 1991 Basketball teams in Georgia (country) Rustavi {{Georgia-sport-stub