Translated material
Week calendar
The last of the Russian clubs to finish the season is the capital's Spartak. On Tuesday at 22.45 Moscow time, the red-whites will begin their away match against the French Toulouse. Also in this group “E”, the Swiss “Zurich” takes on the German “Bayer” (Leverkusen). The position of the teams in our octet is now as follows: Spartak - 7 points (3 games), Zurich - 6 (3), Bayer - 6 (3), Sparta (Prague, Czech Republic) - 4 (4), Toulouse -- 0 (3). Since the three best teams from each group advance to the UEFA Cup playoffs (they will be joined by the clubs that took third place in the Champions League quartets), Stanislav Cherchesov’s team solved their tournament problem ahead of schedule. And yet the upcoming game will not be formal. Russia is fighting to improve its club coefficient in the UEFA rankings, and the points gained by Spartak could be very important in increasing our representation in continental competitions.
BASKETBALL. December 18--19. ULEB Cup (men). 7th round . December 19-20. Euroleague ULEB (men). 9th round . FIBA Euroleague (women). 7th round .
The capital's army team will play on Wednesday in the tournament of the strongest teams of the Old World on a foreign site with the Italian Montepaschi (Siena). In the home match of the first round, Ettore Messina's team won a difficult victory - 74:70. Position in Group A after eight rounds: CSKA - 7 wins - 1 loss, Montepaschi - 6--2, Tau (Spain) - 5--3, Olympiacos (Greece) - - 4--4, Zalgiris (Lithuania) - 4--4, Olimpia (Slovenia) - 3--5, Virtus (Bologna, Italy) - 2--6, Prokom (Poland) -- 1--7. The longest winning streak in this competition was achieved by the Greek Panathinaikos, playing in Group C. But last week “Pao” suffered a crushing defeat in Rome from the local “Lottomatica” - 67:85.
In the second most important ULEB Cup, all four Russian clubs play on Tuesday: Khimki - Azovmash (Ukraine), Hapoel (Jalil-Elion, Israel) - Triumph (Lyubertsy), Dynamo M - - Telindus (Ostende, Belgium), UNICS (Kazan) - Strasbourg (France). Representatives of Russia speak, naturally, in different groups. Khimki did not suffer a single defeat, Triumph suffered one misfire, and Dynamo suffered two. Problems with reaching the playoffs can only arise for the Kazan team, who have only two wins and are in fifth place in their sextet.
Matches of the week with the participation of our teams in the Women's Euroleague: December 19. Dynamo M - Faenza (Italy), CSKA - Fard (Napoli). December 20. "Spartak" MO - "Gdynia" (Poland), UMMC (Ekaterinburg) - "Wisla" (Krakow, Poland).
VOLLEYBALL. December 18--20. Champions League. Group stage. Men. Women. 4th round . CEV Cup. Men. Women. 1/8 finals. Return matches . Challenge Cup. Men. Third round. Return matches. December 21--23. Challenge Cup. Women. Third round. Return matches . December 22. Super League. Men. 7th round. December 23. Super League. Women. 3rd round .
Since the “mirror” calendar is practiced in the Champions League, at the start of the second round the teams that completed the first half of the group stage play against each other. On Wednesday, the current trophy holder, German Friedrichshafen, will try to take revenge on the Russian champion Kazan Dynamo-TTG for the defeat in five games that Stelian Moculescu's team suffered last week at the Basket Hall. The capital's Dynamo team easily defeated the Belgian Noliko in Maaseik, so Italian Daniele Bagnoli's men are unlikely to have any problems on Tuesday in Moscow. So far, Russian men's clubs have experienced no failures at all in the Champions League - six wins in six matches.
But the volleyball players of the Moscow Dynamo, who are still forced to do without the injured 2006 world champion Elena Godina, have two defeats and occupy third place in their quartet, which does not at all guarantee getting into the next “Round of 12”. On Thursday at the Druzhba Sports Center, the Blue and Whites meet with the Spanish Marijal (Tenerife), which they lost to in the Canary Islands with a score of 1:3.
TABLE TENNIS. December 21-22. "Tournament of Champions" Men. Women. Changsha (China).
The last tournament in the international calendar of 2007. The men's competitions (they are held only in singles) will feature Athens Olympic champion Ryu Sun Min (Korea), 2007 world champion Wang Liqing (China), his compatriot and World Cup winner Wang Hao, number one and two in the ITTF ranking Chinese Ma Lin and German Timo Boll, who received a wild card, Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov, Korean Ye Se Hyuk, as well as Singaporean representative Gao Ning.
Among the women, the company of Asians (girls from Japan, China, Singapore and Hong Kong) was diluted by only one athlete from Europe - Tamara Boros (Croatia). The draw will take place on Thursday, with the semi-finals on Friday and the semi-finals and final on Saturday.
HOCKEY. December 19, 21--22. Super League.
After a pause for the home stage of the Channel One Cup Eurotour, the Russian championship in the top division resumes. The leader of the tournament, Ufa's Salavat Yulaev, is playing at home this week against Khimik near Moscow and SKA St. Petersburg, which occupies second place in the table. Czech specialist Milos Rzhiga will make his debut as head coach of the capital's Spartak. The Red-Whites are playing against Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo on Wednesday, and the capital's Spartak-CSKA derby is scheduled for Saturday.
SKI RACING. December 23. World Cup stage. Falun (Sweden). First day. Pursuit race with a mass start of 15 km for women and 30 km for men .
SPRINGBOARD JUMPING. December 22--23. World Cup stage. Engelberg (Switzerland). Springboard HS 137. Two sets of awards are up for grabs . MOUNTAIN SKIING. December 17. December 21-22. World Cup stage. St. Anton, Arlberg (Austria). Women. Downhill, super combination .
FREESTYLE. December 21-22. World Cup stage. Lianhua (China). Men. Women. Acrobatic jumps. Two sets of awards are up for grabs .
SNOWBOARD. December 22. World Cup stage. Sofia (Bulgaria). Men. Acrobatic jumps .