Russia: Kemerovo victorious in derby against Zenit St. Petersburg; Zenit-Kazan end losing streak (and the others of Round 20

On Saturday Kuzbass Kemerovo won the big derby of the 2020/21 Russian Superliga Parimatch regular season against Zenit Saint Petersburg.
In a duel of the leaders of the competition, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and third-placed side, Kuzbass Kemerovo, valid for Round 20, the latter prevailed and claimed the vice-leadership in the standings: 3-1 (27:25, 21:25, 25:18, 29:27). At the same time, the Kemerovo team ended Zenit St. Petersburg’s winning streak in the competition that consisted of 8 games. Evgeniy Sivozhelez top-scored Kuzbass with 22 points of which 5 came from the service line, while Serbian Petar Krsmanović made 4 blocks. Viktor Poletaev scored 26 points for the losing side.

After 5 sets and more than two hours of a play, Zenit-Kazan finally broke their losing streak of 4 defeats in a row and 7 defeats in the last 8 games in all competitions. They beat Fakel and took over their fourth position in the charts. Maksim Mikhaylov led the winners with 23 points, while Akesandr Volkov set up 6 blocks.
With today’s victory (12th successive in all competitions, 8th successive in the league) over Neftyanik (3-2), Dinamo Moscow became the leaders of Superliga. Yaroslav Podlesnykh highlighted the club from the Russian capital with 17 points, while Ilya Vlasov made 4 blocks.
The reigning champions Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (Serbian Dražen Luburić 14 points and Roman Martyniuk 86% reception, 36% excellent) swept Enisey and broke their 4-game losing streak.
Close the picture ASK Nizhniy Novgorod home win in four sets against Dinamo LO, and a tie break victory between Ural Ufa over Gazprom Surgut.

| 2020/21 Russian Superliga Parimatch regular season | Round 20

| January 30
• ASK Nizhniy Novgorod – Dinamo LO 3:1 (25:18, 25:23, 15:25, 25:20)
Top Scorers: Vietskiy 21, Melnikov 12, Titich 13, Valeev 10; Alekseev 22, Divis 10, Biryukov 10, Melnikov 5, Busel 5.

• Ural Ufa – Gazprom Surgut 3:2 (25:21, 21:25, 21:25, 25:16, 18:16)
Top Scorers: Feoktistov 23, Rybakov 22, Kolenkovskiy 14, Perrin 10, Kulikov 10; Nikishin 22, Shchakhbanmirzaev 13, Kostilenko 13, Chereiskiy 10, Yakutin 6.

• Fakel Novy Urengoy – Zenit Kazan 2:3 (23:25, 25:23, 11:25, 26:24, 13:15)
Top Scorers: Zhigalov 19, Volkov 18, Bogdan 17, Gutsalyuk 6, Dikarev 4; Mikhaylov 23, Ngapeth 20, Volkov 15, Volvich 12, Fedor Voronkov 12, Butko 5.

• Kuzbass Kemerovo – Zenit St. Perersburg 3:1 (27:25, 21:25, 25:18, 29:27)
Top Scorers: Sivozhelez 22, Zaytsev 19, Markin 13, Krsmanovic 11, Kobzar 4; Poletaev 26, Ursov 14, Kliuka 12, Iakovlev 8, Pashytskyi 8.

• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 3:0 (25:19, 25:16, 25:11)
Top Scorers: Luburic 14, Savin 13, Kurkaev 11, Ivovic 6, Shcherbinin 5; Klets 12, Skrimov 6, Iereshchenko 4.

• Neftyanik Orenburg – Dinamo Moscow 2:3 (18:25, 25:23, 24:26, 25:22, 15:17)
Top Scorers: Purin 20, Shchemyatikhin 14, Ananiev 13, Kuhno 9; Podlesnykh 17, Semyshev 14, Shchkulyavichus 14, Sokolov 13, Vlasov 9.

| January 31
• Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk – Belogorie Belgorod 3:0 (25:16, 25:21, 25:20)

| Standings (updated on January 30, 2021)
Dinamo Moscow 43
Kuzbass Kemerovo 43
Zenit St. Petersburg 42
Zenit Kazan 39
Fakel Novy Urengoy 39
Ural Ufa 31
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 28
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 24
ASK Nizhniy Novgorod 22
Yugra Samotlor Nizhnevartovsk 22
Gazprom Surgut 18
Belogorie Belgorod 16
Dinamo LO 16
Neftyanik Orenburg 13