Kazan “Zenit” again staked out first place in the Russian Championship before the play-offs

The Russian regular championship ended on Sunday, following which the participants in the upcoming playoffs were determined. Zenit Kazan, Lokomotiv, Belogorye and Dynamo Moscow advanced directly to the quarterfinals, taking the first four lines in the standings, respectively. The next eight teams – from 5th to 12th place – will compete for the remaining spots in the qualifying round. The main contenders for victory in the play-offs are representatives of the Big Four, and above all the current national champion Zenit.

It is quite natural that the Russian regular championship was won by Zenit again, as well as the fact that the winners of the previous championship, Dynamo and Lokomotiv, finished in the top. True, if that season the Kazan team became the first in the regular season by a slim margin, ahead of the capital club with equal victories by only three points, now they have done it with a more clear advantage, and their lead is already from Lokomotiv, not “ Dynamo scored eight points.

Moreover, the intrigue, by and large, died back in January, when Zenit alternately dealt with the blue and whites in Moscow and at home with the Novosibirsk team. Then he made only one misfire, losing to Belogorye in the 20th round, but the competitors did not take advantage of it. Lokomotiv then suffered an unexpected defeat from Shakhtar, and Dynamo failed to cope with Zenit from St. Petersburg. In addition, they also lost to Belogorye, after which they stumbled once more where it was undesirable for them. So the Kazan team experienced absolutely no pressure from below.

But what pressure did the Belgorod team put on Lokomotiv and Dynamo, who put together a crazy streak of 15 wins in a row.

That is, in the second round of the regular season they showed a 100% result, despite finishing the first round with seven defeats. There was a moment when the impression could have been created that Belogorye collapsed, losing to Kuzbass, Ural and Yenisei right at the junction of the circles. And this probably would not have come as a surprise, given the objective difficulties the team faced. Not only was it forced to change its registration and relocate from border Belgorod to Tula due to a special military operation in Ukraine, but it was also headed by debutant coach Alexander Volkov, who announced his retirement from his playing career just last season.

The club’s management, of course, took a serious risk by inviting him, and he was by no means given the strongest selection of performers in the Super League. In particular, there was enough skepticism towards the first foreign player from China in the history of Russian volleyball, Zhang Jingyin, and he helped Belogorye a lot in attack and blocking. And Moroccan diagonal Mohamed Al Khachdadi, for whom this is already his third season in the team, is still on fire. Pavel Tetyukhin, the son of the president and club legend Sergei Tetyukhin, has grown into a real captain, and the example of 21-year-old Georgy Zabolotnikov shows that talented blockers have not disappeared in the Belgorod region after Dmitry Musersky. There is also an excellent passer Roman Poroshin and an experienced libero Roman Bragin. And Belogorye made the right decision with Volkov. As a result, his players beat Dynamo and almost caught up with Lokomotiv, and also inflicted two defeats on Zenit, which won the regular season, which has only three.

In principle, judging by the results of personal meetings with potential winners, the Belgorod team may well intervene in the dispute for medals, with the condition that they will avoid force majeure with their rather short bench.

Moreover, Dynamo, after two golden seasons and a silver past, seems to be beginning to lose ground. Perhaps Konstantin Bryansky’s team has already passed its peak and has exhausted its resource. “Lokomotiv”, on the contrary, is probably not mature yet, and then the transfer of the star Serbian diagonal Alexander Atanasevich fell through, so the entire play-off, apparently, will have to be carried by the young Ilya Kazachenkov. Let us remind you that in the last bronze season, the Novosibirsk team also had Serbian Drazen Luburic scoring.

Moreover, it is possible that in the current situation another contender, for example, Zenit St. Petersburg, will join in the division of medals. Yes, apparently, club leaders Yegor Klyuka and Viktor Poletaev, who missed the regular season due to injuries, will not return this season, but with the arrival of the powerful diagonal Vladislav Babkevich and seasoned finishing player Evgeniy Sivozhelez, the St. Petersburg team managed to stabilize the lineup. In addition, libero of the French national team, Olympic champion Zhenya Grebennikov, regained his health. And Sergio Busato, who recently replaced Viktor Sidelnikov as head coach, against whom, according to unofficial information, the players had complaints, seemed to have established the microclimate in the team.

And in general, we can say that it will be a big surprise if the playoffs are won not by Zenit, but not by St. Petersburg, but by Kazan. In its current configuration, it has practically no weak points.

Alexander Ilyin