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The match for the Russian Super Cup will take place on the artificial turf of the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena. The trophy, which is contested between the national champion and the Cup winner, has been played since 2003. It was won three times by the army team (2004, 2006, 2007), twice by the capital's Lokomotiv (2003, 2005), and last year the prize went to Zenit St. Petersburg.
BASKETBALL. March 3. European Cup. 2nd group stage, 5th round . March 4--5. Euroleague ULEB. Stage "Top 16", 5th round .
The moment of truth has come for two Russian teams in the European Cup. “Khimki” in Group “I” is fighting for the right to play in the “Final Eight”, and on Tuesday they need to defeat the Greek “Maroussi” with a difference of more than 13 points. In this quartet, the capital's Dynamo team, with four victories, secured their place in the playoffs ahead of schedule and are playing away against the Greek "Panellinios", who have already lost all chances of continuing the fight for the trophy. “Khimki” and “Marussi” have two victories each, and the first meeting of these rivals in Hellas ended in a victory for the hosts 71:58. If the Khimki team takes revenge with the required margin, they will guarantee themselves access to the playoffs regardless of the outcome of the sixth round matches. The Kazan UNICS have a critical situation in Group J - one win, while the Italian Benetton has a 100% result, and the Croatian Zadar has two wins. Basketball players from the banks of the Volga will host Benetton, Zadar will play at home with the Turkish PTT.
The current Euroleague champion CSKA meets at home with the Turkish Fenerbahce (Istanbul). In the first round, the “red-blues” defeated the opponent 66:48. It is doubtful that Ettore Messina's team will have any problems in the second match. Current position in Group H: CSKA - 3 wins - 1 loss, Montepaschi (Italy), Cibona (Croatia) - 2--2, Fenerbahce - 1--3. Obviously, if successful, CSKA will earn a ticket to the playoffs, where the two best clubs from each of the four quartets will make it.
VOLLEYBALL. March 3-4. Champions League. Men. Quarterfinals. First matches. March 4--5. Champions League. Women. "Round of six." First matches .
In the men's Champions League on Tuesday, a repeat of the group stage rivalry between SKRA (Belchatov, Poland) and Iskra (Odintsovo). At the preliminary stage, the teams divided the points - 3:0 and 0:3. Let us remind you that in the 1/8 finals of the tournament SKRA upset the capital's Dynamo. As for Iskra, our team is far from being in the best condition now - Serbian coach Zoran Gajić's team suffered three defeats in a row, breaking the unpleasant streak only last weekend. On Wednesday, Zenit Kazan plays away against the Italian club Lube Banka (Macherata). The key volleyball players of this team are setter Valerio Vermiglio, Polish finisher Sebastian Swiderski, Brazilian blocker Rodrigao, Croatian diagonal Igor Omrtsen. Other quarter-final pairs: Czestochowa (Poland) - Trento (Italy), Friedrichshafen (Germany) - Iraklis (Greece).
For women, on March 4, Dynamo Moscow plays away against Turk Telekom, led by Chinese Lan Ping. She led the US team to silver at the Beijing Olympics. The remaining matches on Thursday: “Scavolini” (Italy) - “Foppapedretti” (Italy), “Mushinyanka” (Poland) - “Ekzacibashi” (Turkey).
HOCKEY. March 2-8. KHL. Playoffs. 1/8 finals. Series up to three wins .
On March 2 and 5, matches of all eight pairs are played, the rest - four or less if the series ends.
TENNIS. March 2-8. WTA tournament. Monterrey (Mexico). March 6--8. Davis Cup. World group. First round (1/8 finals) .
Led by captain Shamil Tarpishchev, the Russian men's team travels to Romania with the following composition: Marat Safin, Dmitry Tursunov, Mikhail Youzhny, Teimuraz Gabashvili. The match will take place in the city of Sibiu. Victor Hanescu, Victor Krivoy, Adrian Cruciat, Oria Techau will play for the hosts. Team captain - Andrey Pavel. Only Haneska can be considered a serious rival; the rest did not achieve any success.
Also on Friday and Sunday there will be matches between Argentina - Holland, Czech Republic - France, USA - Switzerland, Croatia - Chile, Sweden - Israel, Germany - Austria, Spain - Serbia.
ATHLETICS. March 6--8. European Indoor Championships. Turin (Italy).
The Russian team will perform in all 26 disciplines. The coaching council included 60 athletes in the preliminary application.
Men. 60 m. Idrisov. 400 m. Alekseev, Dyldin. 4x400 m relay. Alekseev, Dyldin, Aleksandrenko, Krasnov, Svechkar. 800 m. Borzakovsky, Koldin. 1500 m. Ezhov, Sokolov . 3000 m. Orlov. 60 m s/b. Borisov, Shabanov. Height. Ukhov, Shustov, Dmitrik. Pole. Gerasimov, Starodubtsev, Chistyakov. Length. Gataullin, Petrov. Triple. Spasovkhodsky, Plotnir (reserve). Core . Sofin, Lyuboslavsky, Sidorov. Heptathlon. Drozdov, Kislov.
Women. 60 m. Murinovich, Polyakova, Geflich . 400 m. Krivoshapka, Safonova, Antyukh. 4x400 m relay. Krivoshapka, Safonova, Antyukh, Veshkurova, Voinova. 800 m. Savinova, Zbrozek, Maracheva. 1500 m. Alminova, Zolotova, Evdokimova. 3000 m. Alminova, Zarudneva, Sidorchenkova. 60 m s/b. Kondakova, Solovyov, Antonov. Height. Klyugina, Gordeeva, Shkolina. Pole. Golubchikova, Kiryashova. Length. Kucherenko, Sokolova, Voikina. Triple. Taranova-Potapova, Udmurtova . Core. Avdeeva, Omarova. Pentathlon. Bogdanova, Kurban.
High jumper Ivan Ukhov is in excellent shape. Last year, at a competition in Lausanne (Switzerland), he entered the sector drunk and was expelled from the national team. But now it would be wrong to ignore an athlete who clears a height of 240 cm (the best result of the season in the world). Ukhov is the clear favorite of the high-altitude tournament.
SKI RACING. March 7--8. World Cup stage. Lahti (Finland). Sprint, 10 km (women), 15 km (men) .
SPRINGBOARD JUMPING. March 7--8. World Cup stage. Lahti (Finland). Individual and team tournaments .
Even if the Russian national team (head coach is German Wolfgang Steiert) achieves a more or less decent result at this stage, this performance will still not brighten up the bitterness of the outright failure at the last World Cup. Ninth place in the team competition, which meant ineligibility for the second attempt, was an outright failure, calling into question the qualifications of the German specialist.