The Russian national team has successfully completed the preliminary stage of the World League. The Russian national team has successfully completed the preliminary stage of the World Volleyball League men's final 6 schedule

It has long been known that appetite comes with eating. Even if he does not refer to a magnificent feast, but to sports competitions. The Russian men's volleyball team in the current season of the World League is playing in an experimental composition: not only are there many young players in the team, but also some of them were crippled by injuries during the competition. And, despite this, the Russian team, unexpectedly for many, made it to the Final Six for the first time in three years. And since the minimum task has been completed, why not dream about medals. Moreover, it seemed like a stone's throw to the semi-finals - you just need to beat the Canadian team.

Who can help. Russia starts in the final of the World League

The Russian men's volleyball team, having made its way through a series of trials in the Final Six, begins the fight for World League medals.

The Canadians in the current World League season are just as upstarts as we are. Few people expected them to reach the Final Six, because before that, the North Americans managed to do this only once: in 2013, they took fifth place. However, in its first match, Canada gave Brazil good fight and lost only with a score of 1:3 - this defeat made the second match decisive for the wards of Antiga. Any victory for the Russians brought them to the playoffs, and left the Canadians behind. But it was clearly not worth counting on an easy victory, even despite the positive statistics of official matches in previous years, because the opponent had nothing to lose.

Two draws for the 25th point

From the very beginning of the match on the court, located in the bowl of a huge football stadium"Baishada" in Curitiba, an equal fight ensued. The Russian team often took the lead, but did not break away by more than two points. Immediately wards Shlyapnikova showed the opponent and the spectators several beautiful attacks, but there were also mistakes - that's why the Canadians were leading by the first technical time-out with a score of 8:6. The first minutes of the game were clearly spent on adaptation: the Russian team was getting used to both the opponent and the huge stadium.

After a pause, the Canadians tried to break away, however, Likhosherstov's serve and Kurkaev's block made it possible not only to win back the gap, but also to take the lead: the Russian team was the first to earn the 16th point: Dmitry Volkov deftly threw the ball into the opponent's half of the court. By that time, Klyuka was the best in our team's attack, having scored a third of all points, and the Canadians felt this, they began to cover Yegor more reliably, forcing him to make mistakes. In the end, the Canadians, having performed a couple of unpleasant innings, took the lead with a score of 22:20. The Russians equalized the score, but still failed to bring the matter to victory in the set: they lost 23:25. At the same time, the Canadians de facto earned the 25th point twice: the first draw was canceled because the referee hurried to blow his whistle.

Volleyball. , "Final Six". Curitiba, Brazil
Group stage. 2nd round

Russia - Canada - 0:3 (23:25, 27:29, 17:25)

The pressure of one stick is not enough

The second set began in the same way as the first one: with a high-quality Russian block, errors on the serve and a 3-1 score, which grew into 3-3 after a spectacular defense game by the Canadians. However, the continuation turned out to be more pleasant for fans of the Russian team: our team had a block, and the Canadians made a lot of unforced errors. By the first technical timeout, the Russians were leading with a score of 8:7, but the attack of our team still left much to be desired.

Immediately after the break, the Canadians showed the Russians how to attack, gaining four points in a row. Shlyapnikov had to take a time-out, but this did not stop the Canadians: they also earned the fifth point - 12:8. By the second break, the backlog due to the pressure of Kluka managed to slightly reduce, but the second set the team from North America was clearly given better: she attacked faster and more powerfully, and Vernon-Evans scored the 16th point with the first ace in the match. After a minute's respite, little has changed in the game: the Russians still didn't really succeed in attacking, and the Canadians kept ahead quite confidently. At the very end of the game, however, for some reason they relaxed, missed two match points and even found themselves on the brink of the abyss, but the nervous and tense ending still remained with Stefan Antiga's wards - 29:27.

Game without mood

The Russian team started the third game obviously not in in a better mood. Shlyapnikov needed to shake up the team, and with the score 2:5, he decided to release Sergei Antipkin. The gap stopped growing, but by the break the Canadians still crept up with the leaders - 8:5. “They play on our mistakes. They don't create anything! You need to make fewer mistakes! - the head coach instructed the Russian team during a pause. However, it was not possible to turn the tide: the Canadian team received well and quickly attacked: Perrin and Maar played out in earnest.

The Canadians used their chances, and the Russians continued to make mistakes. By the second break, our team was losing 11:16, and Shlyapnikov again told the players: “We are losing ourselves!” However, his wards, it seems, no longer believed in their strength. The attack was either blocking or out of bounds, and the Canadians were already leading 18:11. Head coach I tried to make another life-giving injection, replacing Zhigalov with Chefranov, but this replacement did not become fatal, although Alexander still earned one point on the block. The game ended with a whole series of mutual errors on the pitch and the first match point realized by the Canadians. Russia, having failed to debug the attack, lost to Canada with a score of 0:3 and tomorrow will try to save the day in the match with Brazil.

The Russian men's volleyball team made it to the Final Six of the World League. By winning all three matches in the third stage of the Intercontinental Round, she secured a place in the top six the best teams and will take part in the decisive stage of the tournament, which will be held in the Brazilian Curitiba on July 4-8. In total, the Russians won five victories and suffered four defeats.


Before the final match of the preliminary stage of the World League against Iran, the Russian team was teetering on the verge of getting into the top 6, but a victory in it guaranteed her a ticket to the Final Six. However, until recently it seemed that the noticeably renewed team of Sergei Shlyapnikov, playing on different reasons without a number of leading players, it will not be possible to combine "useful with pleasant". That is, to break in youth and debutants, and at the same time solve the tournament problem. Prior to her visit to Katowice and Lodz, she was on a one-win, two-loss schedule. At home in Kazan, the Russians took over Argentina (3:0), after which they lost to France (1:3) and Bulgaria (2:3). Then, in the French Pau, they lost to the hosts of the site (1:3) and the USA (0:3), defeating only Italy (3:2). In order to still take a swing at the Final Six, Russian volleyball players had to show a 100% result at the stage in Poland. At the same time, they were expected to meet with extremely uncomfortable opponents - the Poles, who are strong at home in any composition, and the Americans, who have already managed to demonstrate how dangerous they are.

Meanwhile, in the course of this World League, Shlyapnikov had to face additional and serious difficulties. Health problems arose with the setter Dmitry Kovalev, and the main players - Dmitry Volkov, Yegor Klyuka, Denis Biryukov. The second diagonal Alexander Kimerov was out of action, and in the game with Poland, blocker Ilya Vlasov was injured. It seems that there was not a single match in which the head coach of the national team could use a full rotation. In such a situation, of course, it is difficult to make any claims about the quality of volleyball, and sometimes it left much to be desired. And yet. For example, the Russians were practically unable to oppose France, although this team also underwent significant personnel changes and key positions were taken by newcomers or yesterday's substitutes - in particular, diagonal Stephane Boyer, players Trevor Kleveno and Julien Linel. Probably, the Americans also caused too much trouble for the Russian national team, who are also now actively dragging the young ones to the base - Benjamin Patch, Tory Defalco, Jeffrey Jendrik - and started the 2017 World League with three defeats, including from Canada and Belgium. Yes, and experimenting Italy, which took the last, 12th place in group 1, was defeated by Shlyapnikov's wards only in five games, despite the fact that the opponent then made 46 (!) mistakes.

On the other hand, one cannot fail to note the obvious positive, which testifies to the difficult, but still growth of the team. At the preliminary stage, she spent two very good match- in Kazan with the Argentines at the very start and in Katowice with the Poles just at the third stage of the intercontinental round. The Russians broke the resistance of the current world champions, who were supported by eight and a half thousand spectators, in three sets (25:22, 25:17, 25:21). The diagonal Maxim Zhigalov (16), the above-mentioned Volkov (13) and Klyuka (11), who play the leading roles in the current team (plus, of course, the passing Kovalev), scored the most points. They also became the most productive in the next match against the USA, which took place already in Lodz. Kluka (22 points), Zhigalov (17) and Volkov (12) did a lot to win (31:29, 17:25, 25:19, 27:29, 15:13), but the supporting players also contributed - Sergei Antipkin and Yegor Feoktistov, who successfully came on as a substitute. Aroused respect and six points on the block of Ilyas Kurkaev (he has 11 in total). In principle, a tie-break experience (the meeting lasted almost three hours), all the more successful, is also necessary for this team. Fortunately, she did not forget to beat Iran yesterday. Moreover, Russian volleyball players snatched the first game on a triple set point from an opponent (26:24, 25:18, 25:18). Already Vadim Likhosherstov, who replaced the injured Vlasov, felt more confident and tormented his opponents with an insidious planning serve. And the other blocker - Kurkaev - reigned in the center of the grid (11 points).

Access to the "Final Six" of the World League is a great achievement for the Russian team, especially in the current circumstances. Suffice it to say that in the seasons of 2015 and 2016, having a much stronger roster in terms of names, she could not qualify for the decisive stage of the tournament. Sergey Shlyapnikov reversed the trend unworthy of domestic volleyball, and now he will again be presented at such high level. Moreover, new Russian team Obviously, such a check would not hurt either.

Now our team needs to beat the Americans

Brazil - Russia - 3:2 (20:25, 21:25, 25:22, 25:23, 15:12)

Douglas

13

Kluka

11

Lucas

12

Kurkaev

8

Wallace

21

Mikhailov

19

Lipe

15

Volkov

23

Mauricio Souza

1

Musersky

17

Bruno

1

Butko

1

Thales

(l)

Werbov

(l)

Mike

(l)

Poletaev

Evandru

Berezhko

William

Grankin

isak

Cadu

Lucas Loch

WITHjudges: Maroschek (Poland), Simonovich (Serbia).
Match time: 2.17 (28+29+30+31+19). Scored points - 106:107(attack - 56:60, block - 6:14, serve - 6:7, opponent's mistakes - 38:26). September 26. Turin. "Pala Alpitour".

- Brazil- one of the most coveted volleyball posters. Even neutral fans are interested in following this confrontation - a world-class spectacle is guaranteed. And if we are talking about the "Final Six" of the World Cup, a degree of drama and intensity is added here, which makes the game a real sports feast.

Started for health

At the last World Cup, these two teams also played in the Final Six. And then the Brazilians smashed our team in three games. The Russians failed to get away from such a blow - they lost the next day to Poland and were left without a semi-final.

After that long four years, our team could not take revenge on Brazil. Until this July, when the Russians defeated the South Americans in three sets in the semi-finals of the League of Nations.

This match was much more significant. This is no longer a commercial, but an official tournament. This is where you need to answer for the failures at the 2014 World Cup.

Wards Sergei Shlyapnikov They immediately showed that they were very serious. Until the middle of the game, the guys entered the game, made a lot of mistakes, and in the end they flew away from Olympic champions. Maksim Mikhailov bounced off the block Ilyas Kurkaev filed for relegation, and then demonstrated miracles of coordination Dmitry Musersky- the blocker with his 218 cm height managed to react to the "snot" after the serve and pick up the insidiously falling ball. Moreover - he is from the transfer Alexandra Butko and pounded him into the floor. Plus three!

Then there was an incredible rescue by the 36-year-old Alexey Verbova. It's hard to believe that our super libero won Olympic medal back in 2004, in Athens, because he is still in great order. Put an end to the game with two "nails" Musersky.

The second party proceeded approximately according to the same scenario. There were wagering again Mikhailova, a block from Sir, over-emotional glasses from Dmitry Volkov, good exit Viktor Poletaev. It didn't come to a climactic ending.

William as Musersky

As in the third installment. Unfortunately, it didn't end in our favor. on her in starting lineup did not take the position of binder Bruno, whose great Vladimir Alekno called the Brazilians a key player, and William. And the beginning remained for the "yellow". 7:12!

Russia heroically caught up. Volkov pounded from the hardest positions. served powerfully Mikhailov. After his next ace, the score at some point equalized - 18:18. It seemed that now, on emotions, our team will fly to victory. How would you like that!

An no. The Brazilians are also not born with a bast. Yes, and the Russians made a number of unforced errors in the end. The key episode was the successful attack of the 34-year-old Lipe from the back line - the ball, like a bun, managed to slip through our triple block. 20:23 - and goodbye party.

The fourth began and involuntarily associations with the Russian comeback in the final of the London Olympics began to appear. Only now it was the other way around. The Brazilians caught the courage, played very quickly, they had a pitch flying and the team pulled out incredible balls in defense. In 2012, the translation decided a lot Musersky diagonally - a step that no one expected. This time, the original coaching decision also played. William who is always behind the stellar Bruno, and remained the main passer. And it has borne fruit. From his programs, the partners hammered into the floor over and over again. At the same time, he himself served dangerously.

At the end of the game, things almost came to "more-less". Volkov realized the attack, then filed for relegation and the score became 23:24. Then Dmitry took a chance again - and the ball flew over the court by a few millimeters. 2:2 in sets.

Need to beat USA in three or four sets

At the tie-break, the Brazilians continued to play uninhibitedly, and our team, realizing that they were missing the ball they had almost won, on the contrary, tightened up. . And today the team lost to him. If in the first two games everything was fine, then many of them went wrong with the pitch, problems began to arise with the implementation.

Not to say that the Russians gave up a lot - a number of game episodes were just brilliant - but still they let go of the wounded victim a little. And the Brazilians just needed it. They are 100 percent by their chances. And won major victory in this very beautiful game.

It's a shame. But the question of reaching the semi-finals is open for us - and will be decided tomorrow. The team certainly needs to beat the Americans. Moreover, it is impossible to bring the case to a tie-break. Otherwise, there is a risk that USA And Brazil will finish the full-time duel with a score that suits both of these teams. A Russia can't do anything about it.

It is obvious that our team has a huge playing potential. And now it just needs to be fully demonstrated in the next game. Everything is still in our hands.

Group E

AND

V (TB)

P (TB)

WITH

ABOUT

1. Brazil

1 (1)

2. Russia

1 (1)

3. USA

The Russian men's volleyball team guaranteed itself access to the third group round (Final Six) of the 2018 World Championship. Finding themselves in a difficult position after an unsuccessful first stage, the team of Sergei Shlyapnikov showed character and took advantage of the good fortune.

Lucky for those who are lucky. Russians fulfilled difficult task. After two defeats at the 1st stage, they managed to win all three matches of the second group round. Interrupted the Renaissance of the Dutch team. They calmed the raging Italian stands in the game with the hosts. And today, with the second squad, they beat the Finns, who lacked tournament motivation, but not courage.

The head coach of the Russians, Sergei Shlyapnikov, removed one half of the base initially, and replaced the other during the game, so that in the end, an outlandish line-up with Ilya Vlasov and Alexei Rodichev remained on the court. But Viktor Poletaev finally demonstrated his jumps to the stars to sunny Italy. It seems that Maria Lasitskene and Sergei Shubenkov have been secretly training the diagonal baby since childhood.

With all the rotation, the problem arose for the Russians only at the end of the third installment, when Rodichev faltered in the reception. Shlyapnikov's time-out corrected the situation.

The Russians did what was necessary, and yet it is worth remembering Lady Luck with a kind word. The third place in the first group round led not to the death group at all, but to the quartet with Holland and Finland. The almost perfect alignment of the opponents' matches made it possible to leave the second place without any problems. As a reminder, the four winners of the groups of the second round and two teams from the second places with the best results go to the Final Six. The rivals divided the orange (points) so fiercely that Russia easily got into the number of “lucky losers”. We are lucky in this World Cup - we must use our luck.

The Russians' opponents in the Final Six will be determined at the end of today's matches and following the results of the draw.

results

World Cup 2018 (Italy, Bulgaria)

2nd group round

Russia - Finland - 3-0 (25:17, 25:19, 25:22)

Russia: Poletaev (18), Berezhko (11), Kurkaev (10), Volvich (9), Mikhailov (6), Grankin (2), Rodichev (2), Vlasov (1), Butko (1), Kluka (1), D. Volkov (0), Sokolov (n)

Today. 22.15. Italy - Holland

Command positions: 1. Italy - 6 wins / 1 loss (19 points); 2. Russia - 6/2 (18); 3. Holland - 5/2 (14); 4. Finland - 2/6 (9)

Russia - Finland - 3:0 (25:17, 25:19, 25:22)

The Russians will play at least two more matches at the World Cup, which is held in Italy and Bulgaria. Team Sergei Shlyapnikov in the final match of the second group stage beat the Finnish national team and solved the minimum problem.

No extra effort

The tournament situation before this match was such that any victory over the Finnish national team would lead the team Russia in the Final Six. But even the need to win did not prevent our head coach from leaving out the game Dmitry Musersky, Dmitry Volkov And Alexey Verbov.

The Russians could afford it. Current Finnish national team- not at all the team of the 2007 model, which shone at the European Championship and could well reach the final for the first time in its history. Wards Thomas Sammelvuo, a great acquaintance with Russian volleyball, were inferior to our team in everything.

The game only emphasized it. Without any extra effort, the Russians achieved victory. Most of the time on the site was spent by those who rarely appeared in previous matches. For example, diagonal Victor Poletaev replaced Maxim Mikhailov during the first game and played until the end of the match. Finisher Alexey Rodichev changed Egor Kluku also in the course of the meeting, a blocker appeared for some time Ilya Vlasov. And he played as a libero Alexander Sokolov.

But regardless of the composition, the Russians had to win confidently. And so it happened. Only at the end of the third set did our team relax enough to allow the opponent to level the score. Shlyapnikov I even had to take a timeout and release a couple of draws Volkova.

Advantage Russian team, who played at full speed, was colossal. Especially on the block. One only Ilyas Kurkaev seven times effectively sheathed rivals. However, it makes no sense to analyze the statistical calculations against such a team. Victory in three games and a place in the Final Six.

Moved away from failure

The Russians took second place in Group E, although after the first group stage the position of our team seemed rather precarious. Our volleyball players faced the need to win all three meetings of the second group stage. In the first of them, she was defeated, even smeared across the Milan area Holland national team.

But on the eve of the game with the Finns Russian team had a tough match with the team Italy. The initiative in this meeting passed from hand to hand. The Italians took the first set, the Russians took the next two, then gave up the fourth, having a huge advantage at first. In the end, everything was decided in a tie-break, in which all best qualities of our team - an excellent serve, a very high-quality reception, a good and fast attack and an impenetrable block.

On the block, the Italians scored only two points, the Russians - nine. And at those moments when it was most needed, when the fate of the games and the match was being decided. In those moments when the overcrowded 13,000th arena started up from any successful action of its players. Ivan Zaitsev And Osmani Juantorena played an excellent match in general, but the Russians were ready for such a game.

A colossal amount of force was spent, but at the same time Russian team after this victory, she no longer depended on anyone. All that was left was to win Finland and prepare for the move from Milan to Turin, where the Final Six will take place.

It is not yet known when the draw for the final stage of the tournament will take place. Yes and full squad participants are also unknown. Apart from Russian team teams will continue the fight for medals Serbia, Brazil, Italy And USA. The last ticket will go to either Poland national team, the 2014 World Champion, or a team France.

It all depends on the result of the meeting between the teams Serbia And Poland. The Poles only need a victory to continue the fight for medals. The features of the draw are such that the teams that have passed to the "Final Six" from the second places in the groups will be separated from each other. That is, the Russian team will definitely not play either with France national team, or with Serbia national team.

However, this is no longer so important. Weak opponents like Finnish national team, there will definitely not be a decisive stage of the championship.