| Russians experiment and continue to win The Russian men's volleyball team continues its victorious march in the 14th edition of the World League. In the next, fourth, gaming weekend, head coach Gennady Shipulin's team on their court without much effort defeated the Venezuelan team, losing only one game in two matches - 3:0, 3:1. With victories in all eight matches of the preliminary stage, we practically secured first place in the group and access to the final tournament. After all, the likelihood that Russia will lose to Poland four times in the remaining matches is close to absolute zero.
Considering the low rating of the opponent, the Russian coach used these meetings to really test the skills of those guys who did not often enter the game in previous matches. The most notable event was the return to the national team of the tallest (height 217 cm) volleyball player on the planet - central blocker Alexei Kazakov, who defended the colors of the Italian Trento last season. In the lineup for the match, Alexey replaced the young Arkady Kozlov, and in the starting lineup, Andrey Egorchev, who had performed impeccably in recent meetings. Contrary to expectations, Kazakov looked nondescript. With his physical attributes, he should make at least several effective blocks per match, but in this element of the game the Russian giant was extremely passive, noticeably inferior to his colleague in the role Alexei Kuleshov.
It was not possible to figure out how good Kazakov is in attack. The second passer of the team, Konstantin Ushakov, only occasionally organized attacks at the first pace, and in most of these cases Kuleshov hammered the ball into the opponent’s court. “Kazakov has not yet reached his best form, his inexpressive play does not mean that he will stop fighting for a place in the lineup,” Shipulin commented on the situation. “It’s probably clear to Alexey himself: the right to be in the starting six cannot be given for past merits, it must be defended constantly, at every training session.”
I was pleased with the fact that in the initial and third sets of the first game, the Russians gave their opponents an exemplary lesson in how to act in almost hopeless endings, saving the games with the scores 17:21 and 22:24, respectively. This ability to concentrate at the right moment delighted Venezuelan coach Miguel Cambero, who noted that such confidence is characteristic only of great teams. Another volleyball player who was entrusted with more playing time than usual was diagonal striker Maxim Tereshin. His biggest plus is his power serve, but in attack Maxim, although he became the most productive player of the match, was often unable to deceive the opponent’s block.
In this position in the team, the main competition for Roman Yakovlev is the young Belgorod resident Sergei Baranov, he was the one who took his breath away in the repeat meeting. And the return of Yakovlev himself to the national squad is still delayed. He recently had to undergo preventative surgery on his knee and is currently in the recovery process. Perhaps these players will soon have another competitor. “I made an official offer to Stanislav Dineykin to join the national team,” Shipulin said. - He took time to think after our conversation. I hope Stanislav will make a decision on his own, without outside help. The opportunity to compete for a medal at the 2004 Olympics is a good incentive, and then you can tell your children and grandchildren about this.”
In the second match, the usual fighting lineup appeared on the court. The main dispatcher of the Khamuttskys, hungry for the game, was openly swaggering (in the good sense of the word), performing several circus tricks and drawing applause. Semyon Poltavsky achieved a fantastic achievement. He served eight times. It’s hard to even remember so many “aces” made in a match by one player.
World League. 4th round . Group A. Russia - Venezuela - 3:0, 3:1. Poland - Spain - 3:1, 2:3. Position: Russia - 16, Poland - 12, Spain - 11, Venezuela - 9. Group B. Germany - Brazil - 2:3, 0:3. Portugal - Italy - 0:3, 0:3. Position: Brazil, Italy - 15 each, Germany, Portugal - 9 each. Group C. Bulgaria - Holland - 3:0, 2:3. Yugoslavia - Cuba - 3:0, 3:0. Position: Yugoslavia - 14, Bulgaria - 13, Holland - 12, Cuba - 9. Group D. France - Greece - 2:3, 3:0. Japan - Czech Republic - 1:3, 2:3. Position: Czech Republic - 17, Greece - 16, France - 15, Japan - 12. Ilya TRISVIATSKY |
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