September 4 is an important day for Russian volleyball. The first real trophy of the club season, the Russian Super Cup, will be contested by the reigning champion and Cup winner Zenit-Kazan and the silver medallist Dynamo Moscow.
The Super Cup will be played for the 17th time. Of the 16 previous draws, 13 were won by the current rivals. The Kazan club won nine trophies, and the Moscow team won the Super Cup four times. This year the match is dedicated to the memory of the 1960 world champion with the USSR national team, Nil Fasakhov.
How prepared is Christenson?
Zenit-Kazan enters the new season as champions of almost everything. Russian Championship, Cup and Super Cup – Kazan won all three major titles last season. Only the Centenary Cup was not won and there Zenit-Kazan lost in the final to Dynamo Moscow. But there is one important point: in that match the club from the capital of Tatarstan played without its foreign players Mikey Christenson and Sam Deru.
This time, Deru will not be there either: the Belgian was part of the national team in the qualification for the European Championship, but Micah Christenson not only made it, but also managed to play in the second phase of the Legends Cup in Novosibirsk.
Micah Christenson
Photo by: RIA Novosti
“He had a crazy summer season, the Olympics. While on vacation, he did some work in the gym, but he didn’t jump or work in volleyball. Our main goal was to prepare him for the Super Bowl without putting his health at risk. I hope that tomorrow he will show his full splendor,” Alexey Verbov assessed Christenson’s condition.
Otherwise, everything is calm for the Kazan team. There were minimal transfers: Valentin Krotkov returned to the team, who will form a libero duo with Ilya Fedorov, and the place of Andrei Surmachevsky, who was loaned to Dynamo-Ural, was taken by the young player Vladislav Enin. Zenit plays modern high-speed volleyball, in which defense and security play an important role. Everyone also notes the amazing family atmosphere that reigns in the club. And this gang is clearly ready to win everything this season. In the group stage of the Legends Cup, the Kazan team won six out of six matches, while also adding to its trophy collection with the Novosibirsk Region Governor’s Cup.
Will team depth help Bryansky?
Last season, Dynamo Moscow was limited to the Centenary Cup only. In many ways, injuries and a short bench hampered them. Konstantin Bryansky played almost the entire season with a number six. So the main off-season task for the Moscow club was obviously to increase the depth of the squad.
Konstantin Bryansky
Photo by: RIA Novosti
Well, the season will tell, but on paper it worked. Pavel Pankov’s replacement will be Belarusian point guard Alexei Kurash, who had an excellent last season at Shakhtar. It is important that these are diverse players, so that Bryansky can change the pattern of his game. The place of Vadim Likhoshorstov, who in recent years has been more in treatment than in play, was taken in the center of the net by Fannur Kayumov. Well, the main thing was the signing of the talented and tall diagonal Maxim Sapozhkov. Now Dynamo has two great killers – Tsvetan Sokolov and Sapozhkov. Competition at its best!
However, the group stage of the Legends Cup was not without its flaws. The defeat in Krasnoyarsk against Belogorye was not just painful, but a real slap in the face. It’s not even about the result, but about how easily the Belgorodians dealt with the Muscovites. They took revenge at home, but Belogorye played there without some key players.
The reasons for the defeat are obvious: the Muscovites rely heavily on their physical form. The team plays powerful power volleyball, the cornerstone of which is the serve. And, of course, the task of the coaching staff was to bring the team to its best form just before the Super Cup.
The recipe for victory over Kazan is simple on paper: loosen up the technique, force Micah Christenson to pass from deep on the pitch and the chances will at least be equal. Another thing is that this is rarely possible. But in terms of talent, Dynamo can definitely beat Zenit Kazan.
“We are ready both physically and mentally. We know our opponent well. Tomorrow there will be a battle,” said captain of the blue and white team Pavel Pankov at the pre-match press conference. Indeed, the season starts with the most delicious dish. And it is important that in the new season the Super Cup will be a separate match and not part of one of the first rounds of the Super League. Let’s hope that the battle will be brilliant and set the tone for the entire volleyball season!
