The participants of the semi-finals of the Cup of Russia in bandy in Khabarovsk were determined

The results of some quarter-finals were very unexpected

After a short break, Russian hockey again reminded of itself. Eight teams (four each from the West and East zones), having passed the sieve of the preliminary tournament, arrived in Khabarovsk to take part in the elimination race. There will be no more compromises here. No draw, only victory. As in the old joke – “she died, she died like that.” The winner of the game advances, the loser goes home.

The first quarter-final started on Wednesday 14 September. Kazan’s Ak Bars-Dynamo and Irkutsk’s Baikal-Energy met on the ice of the Erofei Arena. The teams were thought to be approximately equal in strength, and in the first half everything looked exactly like that. It ended with a minimal advantage of the guests from Baikal – 0:1. But in the second half, Kazan “Dynamo”, as they say, “fell down”, conceding six goals and scoring only one. Baikal-Energy reached the semi-finals. Apparently, the selection carried out in the pre-season, gave its results. The team turned out to be very militant.

In the second quarterfinal, Khabarovsk “SKA-Neftyanik” and Ulyanovsk “Volga” met. There were no surprises here. The army team, having passed the preliminary tournament with only victories, expectedly defeated the Ulyanovsk team, who won the right to the playoffs with great difficulty. The result of the match: 14:2 in favor of the Khabarovsk team. SKA-Neftyanik is going to the semi-finals and will play there with Baikal-Energy. The fight promises to be interesting. The teams have already met in Krasnoyarsk, and fighters from Irkutsk put up decent resistance to the Khabarovsk residents (4:8).

The most interesting was the second day of the quarterfinals. The first couple to go on the ice were Dynamo Moscow and Yenisei Krasnoyarsk. Muscovites took first place in the preliminary stage in the west. Yenisei barely jumped to fourth place in the East zone. But to treat the “lions” dismissively is a big mistake. Dynamo always spends the first half very aggressively, but this time the scythe found a stone. In movement, aggression and the desire to win, “Yenisei” was in no way inferior to the “white-blue”. As a result, the teams went to the break with a score of 0:4 in favor of the Siberians. The second half “Yenisei” started no less actively, only in the end it relaxed a little. However, he did not give the victory to the Muscovites. The result of the match – 4:7 in favor of the Krasnoyarsk team. Enisey deservedly becomes a participant in the second semi-final. Dynamo is packing its bags. This year the cup will not go to the capital.

Well, the final quarter-finals: Arkhangelsk “Vodnik” – Kemerovo “Kuzbass”. Both teams are real fighters, both deserve to go to the next stage. The fight was very hot. Vodnik finished the first half with a minimal advantage over the Kemerovo team – 3:2, in the second game segment the conditional guests leveled the difference. The main time did not reveal the winner – 5:5. Like the first ten minutes. But in the second overtime, on the 109th minute of the match, the ball somehow miraculously, from a very sharp angle, after drawing a free kick, flew into Maxim Blinkov’s goal. Outcome: Vodnik’s victory with a score of 6:5, and at the next stage he will play with Yenisei that has risen from the ashes. You can’t miss this match.

So, on September 17, Saturday, on the ice of the Erofei Arena at 13:00 Khabarovsk time (6:00 Moscow time), SKA-Neftyanik and Baikal-Energy will meet.

At 17:00 Khabarovsk time (10:00 Moscow time), Yenisei and Vodnik will enter the fray.

The winners already on September 18, on Sunday, will play among themselves the main trophy of the competition – a crystal goblet.

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