The first round of the group stage of the Legends Cup in men’s volleyball ended yesterday in Kazan and Krasnoyarsk. The eight strongest teams in the country, based on the results of last season, are fighting for the trophy and at the same time are getting into shape before the start of the Super League. Probably during these three days we did not see the highest quality volleyball – that’s understandable, now everyone is under stress. But there was a lot of intrigue and the fans were definitely not disappointed. We talk about the most interesting events of the first round!
Belgorod residents look better than others
BELOGORY
Photo: VK “Belogorie”
Belogorye left the most vivid impression with the results of the first round. Three group wins against Dynamo, Zenit St. Petersburg and Enisey are an excellent result for Alexander Volkov’s team. And they managed it without the Chinese finalist Zhang Jining, who would join the team later. Meanwhile, Andrei Marchenko replaces him, which only added tenacity to the team in defense. Many have already begun to compare Belogorye with the French national team, and we can say that there really are similarities. The Marchenko-Tetyukhin pair and libero Valentin Golubev give the team good reception and a lot of “extra” attacks, working in defense. This gave Roman Poroshin a free hand.
If in the first match the “lions” had to show their unbreakable character, winning Zenit 1-2 in sets, then the match against “Dynamo” became a real spectacle. The Belgorod team simply declassed Konstantin Bryansky’s team. It is obvious that the Muscovites are not at their best right now, and physical fitness and powerful serving are the cornerstones of Dynamo’s game model. But they fulfilled the minimum task: two wins before the home stage, a normal result.
Alekno has a lot of work.
Vladimir Alekno came back to life as a coach after winning the Channel One Cup, but with Zenit the first pancake turned out lumpy. Already in the first stages of the pre-season, both playmakers, Dmitry Kovalev and Igor Tisevich, left. They were replaced by the more experienced Alexander Butko and Slavi Kostadinov. And so far there is no integrity in the game.
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It is obvious that the game will be based on high balls: Alekno has Vladislav Babkevich, Marlon Yant Herrera, Stanislav Dineykin at his disposal – in terms of physical data, this set of wingers has no equal in the Super League. But so far neither Butko nor Kostadinov have found a way to attack, and without Zhenya Grebennikov nothing works either in reception or defence.
The two-time Olympic champion is already ready to join the training process, so Zenit will continue to add to their numbers. But it will be difficult to achieve results in the Legends Cup: even three wins in Moscow do not guarantee passage to the Final Four. But the Legends Cup is part of the Russian Cup, and Zenit will face a very difficult draw after finishing below second place in the group.
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EGOR KLYUKA
Photo: Yenisei International Exhibition Complex
That’s how many days Yegor Klyuka has not appeared on the field in an official match. Treatment, rehabilitation – in fact, we haven’t seen the player in action for two seasons. And now he’s back! Yegor played the entire match against Yenisei.
Of course, it was naive to expect miracles in the first match, but Klyuka showed decent numbers both in attack and in receiving, scoring 17 points. On several occasions he won balls thanks to his court vision, sending the ball into unprotected areas. We still have to get in shape: five errors in attack and service is too many. But the fans of the St. Petersburg Club certainly have reasons to be optimistic.
Burning with anger!
In the Kazan group, the most striking match was between the home team and Novosibirsk Lokomotiv. In the end, the Kazan team won 3:2, taking the play-off 23:21, and the match was marred by a refereeing scandal.
PLAMEN KONSTANTINOV
Photo by: VK Lokomotiv
Referee Nikolai Knizhnikov made several controversial decisions and at the match point he recorded a mistake by Lokomotiv centre-back Yuri Brazhnyuk. Perhaps, from the point of view of the rules of the game, the referee was right, but it was probably not worth it to whistle such a mistake at the decisive moment of the match. The moment was not the most criminal, but the ball ended up on the side of the Kazan team, which was able to carry out the attack and finish the match.
After the match, Siberian setter Igor Kobzar noticed that the umpire had backed himself into a corner. In fact, at the beginning of the fifth set, Knizhnikov recorded a violation of Zenit Kazan’s diagonal by Kirill Klets in a similar situation. So at least the umpire was consistent.
Well, the one who was most furious after the match was Lokomotiv coach Plamen Konstantinov.
“A great match? Yes. And it ended abruptly. Kazan residents cry every time they are in Novosibirsk: something is wrong with them. And today’s volleyball judges ended it like that. Nothing here will ever be like a spectacle. Never! This is thanks to these comrades,” the Bulgarian specialist said after the match.
The match was brilliant, but the quality was not the highest: in five sets alone, the teams committed 59 errors between them. However, neither of them is in top condition or in their composition: both the Kazan team and the Railwaymen have not yet come up with the legionnaires. In addition, Alexey Verbov decided to leave Maxim Mikhailov in reserve, and for Lokomotiv Dmitry Lyzik could not finish the match due to back problems.
The Novosibirsk team will have to take revenge on the spot, especially since after losing to the hosts the next day, Lokomotiv also lost to Kuzbass. Konstantinov’s team played 10 sets in two days, the opponent was simply fresher. And the Kemerovo residents now have a good chance of competing for the Final Four. Zenit-Kazan, with three wins, practically guaranteed itself a ticket to the second stage.
The teams have little time to recover. The second group stage starts on Friday in Moscow and Novosibirsk. Based on their results, we will know which four teams will compete for the Legends Cup in the Final Four.
