Russia: Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and Zenit Kazan open final six with victories

Final Six of 2021/22 Superliga Paribet (Суперлига Парибет Мужчины) started today.
In the opener, success in four sets for Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (with Kruglov on the field in place of Luburic) over a Dinamo LO who, in third set, lasting for as many as 44 minutes (35-33), missed 8 set points after a comeback from 22-24. Decisive an amazing defense after a counterattack by Serbian Ivovic for a possible 28-30. Not a great day, though, for Dinamo’s opposites:
8 points, 38% and 6% efficiency in attack for Pirainen, 6 points, 38% and 15% efficiency in attack for Zhigalov. Among the winners, on the other hand, great performance for middle-blocker Kurkaev (19 points, 75% and 65% efficiency in attack, 3 blocks and 1 ace), and good also Perrin who scored the same number of points with 50% and 44% efficiency in attack, 1 ace.

After Lokomotiv, also big favorite Zenit Kazan open their campaign, which they host, with a victory: 3-1 over Belogorie Belgorod, very combative until the final of third set, when collapse 21-25 after a comeback from 14-18 to
19-20. Tatarstan giants earned a direct qualification to the tournament due to winning the regular season, and they dominated the rivals in blocking (16 points from this element) with Aleksandr Volkov making 5 of them. The opposite on the winning side, Maksim Mikhailov, was the top scorer of the match with 17 points. Zenit-Kazan will end the group stage of the Final Six with a match against the reigning champions Dinamo Moscow.

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| 2021/22 Superliga Paribet – Суперлига Парибет Мужчины – Final Six

🏐| Pool A

👉🏼 Day 1 – May 5, 2022
• Belogorie Belgorod – Zenit Kazan 1-3 (17:25, 25:19, 21:25, 14:25) – VIDEO –
Belgorod: Filippov 9, Kovalev 3, Masliev 4, Tetyukhin 8, Al Hachdadi 14, Samoylenko 6, Bragin (L); Spodobets O, Sidenko 5, Petric 0, Ananiev 1. Coach: Kolchin.
Kazan: Volvich 7, A. Volkov 12, Bednorz 15, Christenson 4, D. Volkov 13, Mikhaylov 17, Fedorov (L); Surmachevskiy. Coach: Verbov.

🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Zenit Kazan 3
Dinamo Moscow 0
Belogorie Belgorod 0

| Day 2 – May 6, 2022
• Dinamo Moscow – Belogorie Belgorod 3-0 (25:18, 25:21, 25:23) – VIDEO–

| Day 3 – May 7, 2022
• Zenit Kazan – Dinamo Moscow 3-0 (25:23, 27:25, 25:23)

🏐| Pool B

👉🏼 Day 1 – May 5, 2022

• Dinamo LO – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 1-3 (16:25, 25:19, 33:35, 20:25)
Dinamo LO: Jovovic, Ivovic 14, Chervyakov 5, Pirainen 8, Biryukov 17, Kolenkovskiy 9, Zelenkov (L); Zhigalov 6, Shenkel 2, Artem
Melnikov, Strylchuk 1, Purin 2, Vishnevetskiy (L). Not entered: Abrosimov. Coach: Klimkin.
Novosibirsk: Abaev 2, Perrin 19, Lyzik 8, Kruglov 11, Savin 14, Kurkaev 19, Krivitchenko (L); Martyniuk (L), Tisevich, Chereiskiy 2, Kazachenkov 1. Not entered: Nikitin, Luburic, Tkachev. Coach: Konstantinov.

🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 3
Zenit Saint Petersburg 0
Dinamo LO 0

| Day 2 – May 6, 2022
• Zenit Saint Petersburg – Dinamo LO 3-2 (25:22, 19:25, 20:25, 25:21, 15:12) – VIDEO–

| Day 3 – May 7, 2022
• Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Zenit Saint Petersburg 1-3 (25:21, 20:25, 21:25, 21:25)

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| May 9, 2022
• First semifinal | Zenit Saint Petersburg – Dinamo Moscow 1-3 (21:25, 18:25, 25:19, 23:25)
• Second semifinal | Zenit Kazan – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 0-3 (23:25, 23:25, 21:25)

| May 10, 2022
• Final 3/4 Place: Zenit Saint Petersburg – Zenit Kazan 0-3 (19:25, 19:25, 14:25) —VIDEO—
• Final 1/2 Place: Dinamo Moscow – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 3-2 (26:24, 23:25, 25:20, 20:25, 15:9)

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