Translated material
Week calendar
Russian Championship. Premier League. 5th round. April 12. CSKA - Spartak (Nch), Tom - Shinnik, Khimki - Rubin, Amkar - Moscow. April 13. "Lokomotiv" - "Terek", "Luch-Energia" - "Saturn", "Zenit" - "Wings of the Soviets", "Dynamo" - "Spartak" (M).
In the tournament of the continent's strongest teams on Tuesday, three teams from the Foggy Albion will take to the field: the day's program includes the Chelsea match against the Turkish Fenerbahce (the first game is 1:2) and the English derby Liverpool - Arsenal ( 1:1). The following matches are scheduled for Wednesday: Barcelona (Spain) - Schalke (Germany) (1:0), Manchester United (England) - Roma (Italy) (2:0). Let us remind you that this season, for the first time in the history of the Champions League, the winner will be determined in Moscow, at the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena, and this will happen on May 21.
St. Petersburg's Zenit, as part of the UEFA Cup, will host the German Bayer on the banks of the Neva on Thursday, having a comfortable start after winning the away match in Leverkusen (4:1). Former forward of the Russian national team and the capital's Dynamo Dmitry Bulykin is playing for the guests, but it is not at all a fact that he will make it into the starting lineup or at least come as a substitute. He is not yet a stable starter.
The “highlight” of the fifth round of the Premier League: the capital’s “derby” “Dynamo” - “Spartak” on the field of the stadium in Petrovsky Park. Experts consider the stadium's lawn in its current state to be almost ideal.
HOCKEY. April 7, 9 and, if necessary, April 11. Russian Championship. Super League. Playoffs. Super final series (according to the “2--2--1” scheme). 3rd, 4th and 5th matches. "Salavat Yulaev" (Ufa) - "Lokomotiv" (Yaroslavl).
In Russia, “golden” confrontations are held up to three victories. The reluctance to play out longer series in the country's Hockey Federation is motivated by the interests of the national team, which is playing at the World Championships in May. Note that for 15 years now she has remained without awards of the highest dignity. We will not refer to overseas experience, but will simply look at what is happening in neighboring European championships. In the Czech Republic, already from the quarterfinals, battles are fought to four victories, the same in Switzerland, Sweden, Finland. In Germany, oddly enough, the first round of the playoffs is played in this format, and then up to three victories. And in this regard, it is more appropriate to compare our championship with some French one. So the fans can’t wait to see when a fundamentally new hockey league starts in Russia. Fortunately, this should happen in the fall.
BASKETBALL. April 9-10. Euroleague ULEB (men). Quarterfinals. The third matches of the series up to two victories . April 10--13. ULEB Cup (men). "Final Eight". Turin (Italy). April 11, 13. FIBA Euroleague (women). "Final Four". Brno (Czech Republic).
The decisive stage of the second most important continental tournament of the ULEB Cup is being held for the first time in the “Final Eight” format. This form of defining cup competitions is now becoming more and more popular in the Old World. In Russian basketball, it has already been tested by women's teams who gathered for three days in March in Yekaterinburg.
In the capital of the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Final Eight bracket looks like this: Dynamo (Moscow) - Turov (Poland), UNICS (Kazan) - Girona (Spain), Besiktas (Turkey) - Galatasaray "(Turkey), "Juventud" (Spain) - "Pamesa" (Spain). For Russian teams, the calendar is not compiled in the best way. The first round is spread over two days, and both our clubs enter the fight on April 11. So if one of them reaches the final, they will have to play for three days in a row. On the last day of the competition, in addition to the decisive match, there will also be a meeting for third place.
In the EuroLeague Women's Final Four, the semifinal pairings are designed in such a way that two teams from the same country cannot compete directly for the title. This point of the regulations caused a wave of indignation among the heads of Russian clubs, since they do not closely monitor similar practices in other team sports. Be that as it may, in the semifinals, Spartak near Moscow plays with UMMC (Ekaterinburg), and the host of the tournament, Gambrinus, faces off against the French Bourges.
TENNIS. April 7--13. BTA 2nd category tournament. Amelia Island. Prize fund 600 thousand dollars . April 11--13. Davis Cup. Quarterfinals .
Only two tournaments on the international calendar are held on so-called "green clay" - this week in Florida and then immediately in Charleston (South Calorina). In 2006, our Nadezhda Petrova won both of these competitions.
The next opponent of the Russian men's team in the Davis Cup is the Czech team. The match will take place on a clay court built at the Small Sports Arena of Luzhniki. The hosts: Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Yuzhny, Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov. Guest captain Jaroslav Navratil called up Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, doubles specialists Lukasz Dłucha and 37-year-old veteran Pavel Wiesner to the team. The remaining quarterfinals: Argentina - Sweden (Buenos Aires, clay), Germany - Spain (Bremen, hard), USA - France (Winston-Salem, hard).
VOLLEYBALL. 9--10 and, if necessary, April 13. Super League. Women. Playoffs. Semi-finals, matches for 5th-8th places. Series up to two wins. Second and third matches. April 12. Super League. Men. 21st round .
In the men's tour, two matches are of particular interest: Lokomotiv NS - Dynamo-TTG and Lokomotiv-Belogorye - Iskra.
CYCLE HIGHWAY. April 13. Race Paris-Roubaix. France.
The toughest one-day race on the elite world cycling calendar. The length of the distance is 260 km, of which 52 km are special stages with cobblestone roads. This is pure hell for every participant. The winners of the last five years: Peter Van Peteghem (Belgium), Magnus Beckstedt (Sweden), Tom Boonen (Belgium), Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) and last year's triumphant Australian Stuart O'Grady.
SWIMMING. April 9--13. World Short Course Championships (25-meter pool). Manchester (UK).
Competitions for the world's best swimmers in a 25-meter pool have been held since 1993, and the current championship is in its ninth edition. Two years ago in Shanghai (China), the top three teams according to the medal table were Australia (12 gold, nine silver and four bronze medals), USA (6, 7, 8), China (5, 1, 6). The Russian team also missed out on South Africa, finishing in fifth place (3, 0, 4).