2026 quarterfinals: last piece in the Final Four puzzle
- marisnoviks
- Apr 9
- 3 min read
The 2026 ENBL quarterfinals will conclude on Thursday, April 9, as the 2025 champions CSO Voluntari host Riga Zelli.
Playoff experience: CSO Voluntari are seeking their third straight Final Four appearance, this time with a head coach Dan Ioan at the steering wheel.
Ainars Bagatskis and CSO Voluntari reached the 2024 Final Four in their debut season and advanced to final where they fall at the hands of the hosts – the Danish champions Bakken Bears Aarhus.
A year later CSO Voluntari returned to the Final Four, ended a 10-0 streak by Slovan Bratislava – then Inter Bratislava, and triumphed in the final over Marc Steutel and the Newcastle Eagles.
Riga Zelli finished their first regular season with a 5-3 record to earn the eleventh seed.
Dāvis Čoders and his men traveled to Iceland to defeat the sixth seeded Tindastoll.
The winners of the quarterfinal series will face Dziki Warszawa on April 22.
Series history: CSO Voluntari (9-1) will face Riga Zelli (6-4) for the second time.
CSO Voluntari won at Riga Zelli, 81-80, on Easter Sunday, April 5, thanks to a game winning buzzer beater by Mike Caffey.
CSO Voluntari are 5-0 on the home floor after wins over Alkar Sinj, Donar Groningen, Bristol Flyers, SYNTAINICS MBC and Slovan Bratislava.
Riga Zelli are 4-1 on the roads thanks to wins at Dziki Warszawa, KB Peja, Spartak Pleven and Tindastoll.
They lost at Dubrava Zagreb, 74-86, on November 11, 2025.
National championships: the 2025 Estonia and Latvia league finalists Riga Zelli posted a 20-6 record this year to earn the fifth seed.
They won the first game of the quarterfinals at Kalev/Cramo but lost the best-of-three series, after a 100-102 road loss on March 25.
Riga Zelli finished third between Latvian teams – behind VEF Rīga and Valmiera Glass ViA – and will start the best-of-five quarterfinal series against Liepāja on April 11.
CSO Voluntari are 18-7 at the Liga Nationala, in the third place after Oradea and Dinamo Bucharest.
CSO Voluntari defeated Craiova, 101-90, on March 29, and then lost at Timisoara, 55-89, on April 2.
The visitors shot 36.7 percent inside the arc and 19.2 percent from the three point line.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Martin Horozov (Bulgaria) – Sesame NBL referee from 2011, FIBA referee from 2012, one of the Top FIBA referees, has worked at multiple World Cups and EuroBaskets.
Umpire 1: Marius Ciulin (Romania) – FIBA referee from 2003, has worked at four EuroBaskets and four Women`s EuroBaskets, two EuroLeague Women Final Fours, one Basketball Champions league Final Four. One of the Top FIBA referees.
Umpire 2: Juris Brūveris (Latvia) – one of the most experienced referees in Latvia, has worked at the Latvian Basketball league for more than years, the 2021 European Women`s basketball league`s final referee, ENBL referee from 2023.
Observer (on the spot): Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube
2026 quarterfinals | local time | CET
Tuesday, March 17
(8)Donar Groningen 81-100 SYNTAINICS MBC (1)
Wednesday, March 18
(7) Dziki Warszawa 89-82 Iraklis BC (2)
Wednesday, March 25
(5)Manchester Basketball 86-84 Dinamo Zagreb (4)
(1)SYNTAINICS MBC 80-73 Donar Groningen (8)
SYNTAINICS MBC win the series, 180-154
Wednesday, April 1
(2)Iraklis BC 83-84 Dziki Warszawa (7)
Dziki Warszawa win the series, 173-165
(4)Dinamo Zagreb 94-97 Manchester Basketball (5)
Manchester Basketball win the series, 183-178
Sunday, April 5
(11)Riga Zelli 80-81 CSO Voluntari (3)
Thursday, April 9
19:00 | 18:00 (3)CSO Voluntari – Riga Zelli (11)
April 22-23, ENBL VIMODROM Final Four 2026
Stadthalle Weissenfels, Sachsen Anhalt, Germany
2026 ENBL playoffs and bracket
Live blog: the playoffs are coming
I guess this stage of a tournament is always exciting because everything starts to feel sharper and more meaningful. By the quarterfinals, teams have already shown quality, but now the mental side becomes just as important as talent. I’ve always felt these games reveal which squads can stay calm when every possession matters. The Final Four never fills itself. Someone always has to earn that last place the hard way. It is a bit like how fans follow every update, recap, and broadcast detail, sometimes even checking pages like https://espn.pissedconsumer.com/customer-service.html when coverage matters to them. Big moments in sports pull people in because the tension feels so real.