Kristjan Kitsing (born December 11, 1990) is an Estonian professional basketball player for
TalTech of the
Estonian–Latvian Basketball League and the
Korvpalli Meistriliiga
The Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML) is the top-tier men's basketball league in Estonia. The league is organized by the Estonian Basketball Association and played under rules of basketball#International Rules of Basketball, FIBA rules.
The competitio ...
(KML). Kitsing is also a member of the
Estonia national basketball team
The Estonia men's national basketball team () represents Estonia in international basketball matches. They are controlled by the Estonian Basketball Association. The team competed in their first international tournament at the 1936 Olympic Ga ...
.
Club career
Kitsing started his career with the junior team of the
University of Tartu basketball team
Tartu Ülikooli korvpallimeeskond ( English: University of Tartu men's basketball team), also known as Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Tartu, Estonia. They are a part of the Univer ...
. In the beginning of the 2008/2009 season, Kitsing was promoted to the senior team. In his first season he averaged 4 points a game with an average of almost 8 minutes in only 11 games. The following season looked a lot better for the Estonian youngster as he averaged 8,7 points in 16 minutes in the regular season, but was later benched for the playoffs although he proved to be one of the best prospects in Estonia at that time. After winning his first Estonia League title in Tartu, Kitsing moved to
BC Kalev in hopes of getting more playing time and gaining some experience in the
VTB United League
The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...
. With the new team and a new coach, his decision to change the club proved to be right as Kitsing averaged 6,5 points in 16 minutes, playing in a total of 36 games. He went on to win his second championship.
In the start of the 2011/2012 season, Kitsing scored 11 points against the Lithuanian team
Žalgiris. He continued his season putting up pretty great numbers and in the end of the season he won his third Estonian title. For the 2012/2013 season, the forward was loaned to
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...
to recover from an injury. After spending a season on loan, Kitsing made his
Eurocup debut back at his previous club in 2013. By the end of the season Kitsing had won another title to write on his name. The next season his role and statistics stayed the same, but after the team's starting power forward left the club, the situation didn't improve as small forwards were pushed to his position. After the defeat in the 2014/2015 finals, Kitsing left the club. He signed with
TTÜ. He played 32 minutes a game averaging 16,5 points and 6,3 rebounds per game. He was voted to the league's symbolic 1st team lineup and later in the summer he had a great qualification tournament with the national team.
After his season, Kitsing moved to Argentina to play for the
Estudiantes Concordia in the Argentinian first division, but the player and the team terminated the contract after two months. A week later, Kitsing announced that he would be joining the
Bakken Bears of the
Danish Basketball League who was also participating in the newly announced
Basketball Champions League
The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...
. At the end of the 2016/2017 season, Bakken won the title of the
Danish Basketball League. For the next season Kitsing moved back to his hometown to play with his old club
BC Tartu
Tartu Ülikooli korvpallimeeskond ( English: University of Tartu men's basketball team), also known as Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Tartu, Estonia. They are a part of the Univer ...
.
On 13 September 2020, Rytas announced an addition of Kitsing for the 2020–21 season.
On July 29, 2021, he signed with
Kalev/Cramo of
VTB United League
The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...
.
Career statistics
Domestic leagues
References
External links
Kristjan Kitsingat basket.ee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitsing, Kristjan
1990 births
Living people
Bakken Bears players
BC Kalev/Cramo players
BC Rytas players
Centers (basketball)
Estonian men's basketball players
Estonian expatriate basketball people in Lithuania
Estudiantes Concordia basketball players
KK Pärnu players
Power forwards
Basketball players from Tallinn
University of Tartu basketball team players
TTÜ KK players
21st-century Estonian sportsmen