Armenak Alachachian (alternate spellings: Armenak Alajajian or Alatchatchan) (, December 25, 1930 – December 4, 2017) was an Armenian-Soviet basketball player and coach. A point guard, he reached European stardom with CSKA Moscow and the senior men's Soviet Union national team as one of the shortest basketball players to play at such a high level. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt.
Club career
Alachachian helped CSKA lift its first EuroLeague title in 1961. He added a second title in 1963, and reached another final in 1965, before retiring.
Soviet National Team
As a player of the senior men's Soviet national team, Alachachian won four gold medals at the 1953, 1961, 1963, and 1965 EuroBasket, as well as a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games.
Coaching career
Aleksandar Gomelsky, at the time CSKA's sports director, assigned him at the coach position in the late 1960s, and Alachachian led the Reds to the 1969 Euroleague title, thus becoming the first man to lift the trophy, as both a player and a coach.
See also
List of EuroLeague-winning head coaches
References
FIBA Profile "Armenak Alachachian" FIBA Profile "Armenak Alatchatchan" Fibaeurope.com Profile