Russia: Dinamo Moscow win championship title after 13 years. Third place for Lokomotiv

Surely, Dinamo Moscow will remember this season for a long, long time.
Even though they weren’t considered the main contenders for any of the trophies this season, they won 3 of them, of which the last one is of the highest value.
After 13 years during which they failed to win the Russian Championship, and after the league titles won in 2006 and 2008, the club from the country’s capital climbed to the top of the competition, and they beat Zenit Saint Petersburg for the 8th time this season, this time in the final of the 2020/21 Superliga Parimatch, held on their home ground, as they organized the inaugural Final Six of the league: 3-1 (25:21, 25:18, 23:25, 26:24).
Bulgarian Tsvetan Sokolov led the winners with 27 points, while Yaroslav Podlesnykh and Vadim Likhosherstov served 4 aces each. The latter also added 5 winning blocks.
The Moscow side won lot of titles this season: Russian Cup, CEV Cup, and Superliga, all against Zenit St. Petersburg!

With the decisive contribution of the bench after a difficult start, Lokomotiv Novosibirsk won third place and a place for the next Champions League by beating Kuzbass Kemerovo, who left Zaytsev on the bench, in four sets.

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| 2020/21 Russian Superliga Parimatch, Preliminary Round playoffs – Final Six in Moscow

| April 5
| POOL A
• Zenit Saint Petersburg – Fakel Novy Urengoy 3-1 (20:25, 25:19, 25:23, 25:17)
| POOL B
• Zenit Kazan – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 2-3 (25:19, 25:23, 22:25, 27:29, 13:15)
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| April 6
| POOL A
• Dinamo Moscow – Zenit Saint Petersburg 3-1 (20:25, 25:21, 25:16, 25:21)
| POOL B
• Kuzbass Kemerovo – Zenit Kazan 3-2 (21:25, 25:17, 20:25, 25:18, 15:13)

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| April 7
| POOL A
• Fakel Novy Urengoy – Dinamo Moscow 2-3 (28:26, 27:25, 18:25, 22:25, 15:17)
| POOL B
• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Kuzbass Kemerovo 1-3 (19:25, 23:25, 25:22, 26:28)

| Standings
| POOL A: Dinamo Moscow 5, Zenit Saint Petersburg 3, Fakel Novy Urengoy 1.
| POOL B: Kuzbass Kemerovo 6 Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 2, Zenit Kazan 2.

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| April 9
• Final 5th-6th place | Fakel Novy Urengoy – Zenit Kazan 1-3 (21:25, 25:23, 15:25, 19:25)

• 1st Semifinal | Kuzbass Kemerovo (1B) – Zenit Saint Petersburg (2A) 2-3 (24:26, 25:22, 26:24, 22:25, 11:15)
• 2nd Semifinal | Dinamo Moscow (1A) – Lokomotiv (2B) 3-1 (25:17, 25:13, 16:25, 25:23)
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| April 10
• Final 3rd-4th place | Kuzbass Kemerovo – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 1-3 (26:24, 23:25, 13:25, 21:25)
Kemerovo: Kobzar 6, Markin 5, Shcherbakov 7, Glivenko 20, Sivozhelez 7, Krsmanovic 10, Obmochaev (L); Karpukhov 1, Shishkin (L), Pakshin 1, Krechetov 0. Not entered: Demakov, Zaytsev, Tavasiev. Coach: Verbov.
Novosibirsk: Abaev 4, Ivovic 7, Lyzik 4, Luburic 7, Savin 17, Kurkaev 13, Martyniuk (L); Shcherbinin 2, Kruglov 13, Rodichev 10, Krivitchenko (L), Tisevich 0. Not entered: Tkachev, Komarov. Coach: Konstantinov.

• Final 1st-2nd place | Zenit Saint Petersburg — Dinamo Moscow 1-3 (21:25, 18:25, 25:23, 24:26)
Saint Petersburg: Brizard 4, Kliuka 12, Pashytskyy 9, Poletaev 5, Camejo 4, Iakovlev 10, Melkozerov (L); Ursov 3, Podrebinkin 10. Not entered: Kovalev, Kurbanov, Filippov, Andreev (L), Kosmin. Coach: Sammelvuo.
Moscow: Pankov 4, Semyshev 6, Likhosherstov 13, Sokolov 27, Podlesnykh 11, Vlasov 6, Baranov (L); Deroo 2, Sventitskis 1. Not entered: Shchkulyavichus, Siiemshchikov, Belogortchev, Kabeshov (L), Korotaev. Coach: Brianskii.

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