Translated material
Masters' fight
The mentor of the 2006 world champions beat his fellow countryman
The Russian women's team completed its performance in the first round of the preliminary stage of the World Grand Prix with two victories in three meetings. The current world champions in the Polish city of Rzeszow prevailed over China in the opening match - 3:1 (27:25, 21:25, 25:16, 25:15), then lost to the Americans - 0:3 (23:25, 22:25, 13:25) and beat the hosts of the competition - 3:0 (25:17, 25:16, 25:21).The matches with girls from the Middle Kingdom and with Poland had loud signs. In the first case, the best team of the World Cup met with the gold medal winners of the Athens Olympics, in the second, Italian mentors who knew each other well, who led their players to the highest step of the podium at the last world championships, opposed each other. Marco Bonitta made the Squadra Azzura rich in Germany in 2002, four years later Giovanni Caprara became the true messiah of Russian volleyball, and we celebrated the triumph in Japan.
True, Bonitta himself found himself unemployed by the time the Japanese tournament began. In his conflict with a group of leading volleyball players of the Italian national team, the national federation was on the side of the girls, and Bonitta was replaced by Massimo Barbolini. However, Marco did not have to wait long for a new job - a contract was signed with the Polish national team. So far, the host team of the matches that took place in Rzeszow is far from optimal form. What the 2003 and 2005 European champions lack, Bonitta has yet to figure out.
Overall, our team’s performance left a good impression. With the appearance of Ekaterina Gamova in the lineup, who did not participate in the Volley Masters tournament in Switzerland and the Yeltsin Cup in the Sverdlovsk region, the Russians noticeably improved in attack. Caprara experiments a lot and lets the girls who debuted in the national team at such a serious level play - Anna Ivanova, Yulia Sedova, Tatyana Kosheleva. Based on the results of the first round, Natalya Alimova tops the list of the best blockers. The new team captain, Lyubov Sokolova, has not yet appeared on the court - her mentors are taking care of her injured ankle.
By the European Championships in September, the composition of our team can be strengthened by one naturalized athlete. So far we are talking primarily about Anna Makarova from the Khabarovsk “Nugget”. The process of obtaining a new sports citizenship is very difficult, and here you need to be patient. Let us remind you that according to the rules of the International Volleyball Federation, only one naturalized player can be used in any national team. Former Ukrainian Makarova (nee Tsokur) last year married the head of the Samorodka press service, who is also part of the headquarters of the Russian national team as a statistician who carries out “deep” reconnaissance at tournaments with the participation of our main competitors.
Last weekend, a much more eminent athlete, who previously had the citizenship of another country, made her debut for the Italian national team in Verona. We are talking about two-time Olympic champion Taimaris Aguero. Barbolini is very pleased with this acquisition. In the meeting with the Brazilian vice-world champions, Aguero brought the Squadra Azura 29 points and is now in second place in the overall list of Grand Prix scorers. Only Brazilian Sheila is ahead of the ex-Cuban. The hosts lost to the South Americans in a five-set fight.
Only Brazil and Cuba passed the first round without defeat, five teams (including Russia) had two victories each. In terms of goal ratio, Caprara's team is on the very border of qualifying for the final tournament - fifth place. Our girls will certainly significantly improve their position in the table following the results of the home tour in Khabarovsk (August 10-12). Teams from Cuba, the USA and Kazakhstan will visit the Far East.
Results. Grand Prix. 1st round. Tokyo (Japan). Cuba - Dominican Republic - 3:0, Japan - Kazakhstan - 3:0, Cuba - Kazakhstan - 3:0, Japan - Dominican Republic - 3:0, Kazakhstan - Dominican Republic - 3:2, Cuba - Japan - 3:2. Verona (Italy). Brazil - Holland - 3:0, Italy - Taiwan - 3:0, Brazil - Taiwan - 3:0, Italy - Holland - 3:0, Holland - Taiwan - 3:0, Brazil - Italy - 3:2. Rzeszow (Poland). Russia - China - 3:1, USA - Poland - 3:2, USA - Russia - 3:0, China - Poland - 3:2, Russia - Poland - 3:0, China - - USA - 3:0. Position: Brazil, Cuba - 6 points each, Russia, Italy, Japan, USA, China - 5, Holland, Kazakhstan - 4, Poland, Dominican Republic, Taiwan - 3.