Kazan players did not share the parties – Newspaper Kommersant No. 240 (7441) of 12/26/2022

Zenit Kazan became the owner of the first prestigious trophy in the current domestic volleyball season. He defended the title of the owner of the Cup of Russia, very convincingly winning the Final Four in Novy Urengoy, which crowned the trophy. The rivals of Zenit – Belogorye and the host of the tournament Fakel – did not manage to take a set from him.

The Novy Urengoy tournament has added to the amazing collection of titles of the Kazan club. It became truly top notch only at the end of the decade before last, but the number of different valuable trophies it won after take-off looks amazing: it has already come close to four dozen. And the “share” of the Cup of Russia in this list is the most solid. This draw was the eleventh, in which Kazan, who won the cup tournament a year ago, achieved success.

Apparently, the style in which Zenit got to him should have added sweetness to the next prize. Cup competitions are known for often refuting ideas about the balance of power, for often tripping even 100% favorites, and forcing 100% underdogs to jump over their heads. And it is difficult to imagine that some team can go a long tournament distance without ever encountering serious problems.

But Zenit did not have such problems this year. In fact, the most severe test, as it turned out, he passed in the round that preceded the Final Four. It was a group tournament in which, in order to ensure the continued struggle for the cup, it was necessary to take first place in the quartet. And in it, Kazan competed with another Zenit, St. Petersburg, also an unconditional grandee with a chic line-up, and they competed on someone else’s site. But the Petersburgers could not resist, losing in four sets.

And in the Final Four, the level of resistance faced by the Kazan team turned out to be even lower. In the semi-final match, they dealt with Belogorye Belgorod in three games, and in the decisive match with Fakel. He, the middle peasant of the national championship, who is eighth in it, of course, seemed like an obvious outsider of the meeting, but the persuasiveness with which Novy Urengoy destroyed the very strong Novosibirsk Lokomotiv the day before hinted that they were ready to at least fight.

Meanwhile, in the two games there was definitely no talk of a fight. Both the first and second sets turned into a resounding hymn to the class of experienced celebrities who are full of the Zenit base – Maxim Mikhailov, Alexander Volkov, Dmitry Volkov, Mikey Christenson, Sam Deru, Artem Volvich, and also – the good work of coach Alexei Verbov. In fact, it is impossible to say that Fakel regularly gave points to Kazan citizens. No, basically his players did everything right, did without stupid things. But even this “correct” volleyball was too small to at least stay close to Zenit, because in addition to “correctness” its volleyball also had a special chic. It was expressed in terribly interesting, pattern-breaking combinations that baffled the owners of the palace, in an ideal block, when everything was calculated and read in advance, a second before the strike, in serves that did not seem to be distinguished by gigantic power, but aimed at the most vulnerable zones of the Novy Urengoy arrangement.

The “Torch” was able to catch on only when it tore the template itself. Even in the second game, he was left without his best scorer – the diagonal Vladislav Babkevich, who unsuccessfully landed on the ball with his foot and injured his leg. And in the third, Novy Urengoy’s mentor Roman Yakovlev seated veteran Evgeniy Sivozhelez, an indispensable finisher in important matches, on the bench. Against “Zenith” now fought the youth version of the “Torch”. He played a little clumsily, but the passion compensated for the lack of skill. “Torch” in this set led in the account and did not allow Zenit to relax.

But they still pulled through, pulling ahead in the end. And the last goal in the final with a score of 24:21 was scored by diagonal Maxim Mikhailov, who was involved in the lion’s share of Zenit triumphs and, judging by his form, still has not lost his taste for hunting for them.

The next goal of Zenit will be the gold medal of the Russian championship, which until this season it had the same number of cups – ten. In the national championship, Zenit from St. Petersburg looks to be its main competitor so far. He leads the regular season, slightly ahead of Kazan.

Alexey Dospekhov