Translated material
Week calendar
On Wednesday, 40 national teams from the Old World will continue to fight for tickets to the 2008 European Championship, the final part of which for the first time in history will take place on the territory of two countries at once - Austria and Switzerland. For the Russian team, after Saturday's meeting with Estonia, there was a break until June 2, the date of the home match against the outsider Andorra. In our group “E” this week there will be two games: Israel - Estonia and Andorra - England. The most interesting matches on Wednesday from the point of view of the class of the competing teams are the match between the current world champion Italy and Scotland, Serbia - Portugal and Slovenia - Holland.
The Russian championship in the top division, the Premier League, resumes on Saturday and Sunday. The third round has two “nails”. The first four teams of the previous championship are playing against each other: champion CSKA and bronze medalist Lokomotiv, silver medal winners from the capital's Spartak team and St. Petersburg's Zenit, which remains just outside the top three medalists. So far, Leonid Slutsky’s “citizens” are single-handedly in the lead - “Moscow” scored six points out of a possible six thanks to victories in Vladivostok and at home over “Tom”. In addition to the “citizens”, the capital’s “Spartak” and “Krylya Sovetov” have not yet conceded a single goal, and Spartak from Nalchik and “Kuban” have never managed to score.
VOLLEYBALL. March 26. Russian Championship. Men. Super League . Playoffs. Second matches of the quarterfinal series. March 31 - April 1. Final Four of the Men's Champions League. Moscow.
The quarterfinals of the playoffs were “broken” by the Moscow “Final Four” of the main European club tournament. On Monday there will be meetings between Dynamo M - Lokomotiv-Izumrud, Dynamo-TTG - Lokomotiv-Belogorye, ZSK-Gazprom - Fakel and Iskra - Dynamo-Yantar. . After this, seven teams will be able to take a short break before the third matches, which are scheduled for April 5, and the capital's Dynamo will have only a few days left to prepare for their main tournament of the season - the home Final Four.
A match directly for the title of the strongest team on the continent has not been held in Moscow since 1963, when CSKA and the Romanian Rapid played the final of two meetings - home and away. Since 1972, the “Final Four” began to be held, and our country hosted such a tournament only in the 2003/04 season - Lokomotiv-Belogorye won the honorary trophy on its site for the second time.
Next Saturday in the semi-finals they meet: “Dynamo” M - “Tour” (France), “Lube Banca” (Macherata, Italy) - “Friedrichshafen” (Germany). The current coach of the “blue and white” Vladimir Alekno once worked in Tour and led this team to the top four of the Champions League. The next year (2005), the Tour became the best in Europe, but without Alekno.
BASKETBALL. March 29. FIBA Challenge Cup. Final. Re-match. March 30 - April 1. Women's Euroleague Final Four.
For the first time, two Russian clubs entered the best quartet of the Women's Euroleague. According to the regulations, they are reduced to one semi-final pair. On Friday, the tournament will begin with a match between the host of the Spartak site (Vidnoe) and the Russian champion CSKA Samara (formerly VBM-SSAU). The other pair was “Bourges” (France) and “Ros Casares” (Spain). For the club from Valencia, former player of the Yekaterinburg UMMC American Delisha Milton, the tallest basketball player in Europe, Polish Malgorzata Dydek (height 217 cm) and 42-year-old (!) Russian Elena Tornikidou, whose collection includes the “gold” of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, play for the club from Valencia. Moreover, Tornikida, despite his age, is the second highest average scorer in Ros Casares - 12.8 points per game in the Euroleague.
Already on Wednesday, Russia could get its first European Cup this season. Let us remind you that last spring our teams won four out of six trophies - an absolute record for domestic basketball. Before the rematch of the Challenge Cup final, Samara CSK VVS has a two-point deficit. The first game ended in favor of the Cypriot Keravnos - 85:83. The most productive for the hosts was Belarusian Alexander Kul - 21 points, while the Volga team's player Nikita Shabalkin scored for the Volga team (25). Cameroonian Cyril Makanda also plays for Keravnos. At one time, he played in the Saratov Avtodor and received Russian citizenship there.
WATER SPORTS. World Championship. Melbourne (Australia).
Throughout the week, five to seven sets of swimming awards will be drawn every day. Today the divers complete their participation in the World Championships. In addition to swimmers, water polo players continue to compete for medals. The women's finals and bronze medal match are scheduled for Saturday, while the men's winner and runners-up will be announced on Sunday.
TENNIS. March 26 - April 1. 1st category BTA tournament, ATP Masters category tournament. Miami (USA).
The second week of a major tournament with a total bonus amount of $6.9 million, with the prize fund distributed in equal shares for men and women.
HOCKEY. March 29, 30, April 1. Russian Championship. Super League. Playoffs. Semifinal series up to three victories .
The teams continue to play according to a super-tight schedule. When, after two consecutive matches on the site of one of the opponents, hockey players are given only a day to travel and rest, this is very little and is not enough to recuperate. It turns out that four games are played in five days. Moreover, if in the NHL matches of different series are spread over neighboring days in the interests of television and fans, then in our country all pairs play at the same time.
CHESS. March 27--29. "Amber Tournament" 9--11th rounds. Monte Carlo.
In this tournament, the winner is determined by the sum of points scored in rapid chess and blindfold games. In the event of a final tie, two or more chess players may be declared winners. This has already happened in 1998, 2004 and 2006, when the title was awarded to a duet of participants. The leaders in the number of victories (5) in Monte Carlo are Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand.
CYCLE TRACK. March 29 - April 1. World Championship. Palma de Mallorca (Spain).