Volleyball

Dinamo Moscow triumph with the 2021 #CEVCupM title

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Article Thu, Mar 25 2021

Luxembourg, March 25, 2020. The Russian powerhouse of Dinamo Moscow are the 2021 CEV Volleyball Cup Men champions. On Thursday, they edged their compatriots from Zenit Saint Petersburg 3-1, showing better concentration in the decisive moments. As many as 12 aces and a better performance in attack made the difference for the Moscow team. Yaroslav Podlesnykh and Anton Semyshev topped the charts for their team’s victory with 24 points apiece. The MVP award went to Dinamo’s setter and captain Pavel Pankov who was leading his team towards the victory with smart decisions and impeccable play on the serve. For Zenit, Ivan Podrebinkin recorded 21 points.

This is the third CEV Cup title for Dinamo Moscow and the second trophy in this season. Previously, the team won the Cup of Russia when they defeated Zenit St. Petersburg, too, back in December.


Zenit SAINT PETERSBURG (RUS) v Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 1-3 (21-25, 25-23, 26-28, 24-26)

The Volleyball fans attending the final match in Silbur Arena enjoyed a great atmosphere and high-class action provided by both teams. The organisatiors from Saint Petersburg had prepared a great show during the breaks, too. Sofia Feskova, participant in the Youth Eurovision Song Contest, dance group Jockers and Dance Hi School.ere were entertaining the spectators. Due to COVID-19, the capacity of the hall was set to 75%, all sold out. 

Inspired, the guests from Moscow started the match better, especially courtesy of their attacks. With the set unfolding, Dinamo lacked some concentration on the serving line and Zenit took the best out of the situation. However, the players around Konstantin Brianskii managed to get back on track thanks to successful attacks and opened the match in their favour. Both teams recorded three blocks in the opening set.

With the situation on the court heated up, the fans witnessed some great rallies in the next set. For the hosts, Oreol Camejo Durruthy shined in the beginning of this part, while for the guest team Yaroslav Podlesnykh was especially impressive. While Zenit had improved in attack, Dinamo excelled with their block (4) and pushed hard on the serve (4 aces). It was in the last minutes of the set when the hosts took the lead (23-22). Outstanding on defence and block, Zenit had a set ball at 24-22. An error by Sokolov on the serve helped the guests to tie the score.  


Anton Semyshev of Dinamo celebrates the success of the Moscow team in the #CEVCupM Final

Zenit and Dinamo were breathing down each other’s necks in the third set, showing an equal performance in the different components. Dinamo Moscow took control on attack, but Ivan Iakovlev of Zenit, was outperforming the opponent’s spikers on the net, recording some great play on block and in attack.  It was a close call in the last minutes of this set, but the Moscow team emerged victorious.  

None of the teams was giving up in the next set. The key moment in the set was Dinamo’s Pankov good performance on the serve thanks to which the Moscow team built a small point advantage. Tsvetan Sokolov also helped afterwards with good play but Iakovlev’s good performance on the net kept Zenit’s hopes alive. It was a cat-and-mouse game in the end, but Dinamo showed nerves of steel in the key moments. Pavel Pankov had the final word with a strong ace to bring the #CEVCupM title to the Russian capital. 

Konstantin Brianskii, head coach of Dinamo: "We are very glad. Every throphy is very important  for our club. We want to thank the spectators here, they created a great atmosphere in the arena."

Pavel Pankov, captain of Dinamo and final's MVP: "It's always cool to play here. We won the Russian Cup in Saint Petersburg in December, and now we deserved another throphy. However, now we won't be celebrating. We will start the preparations for the Final Six of the Russian Championship."

Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Zenit: "Of course, we are very disappointed. We were close to winning the set and tie the game, but we made a few mistakes. Dinamo deserve this win."

Ivan Podrebinkin, opposite hitter and best scorer of Zenit in this match (21 points): "We fought and showed good Volleyball. But it wasn't enough for winning. Very big thanks to our fans, the atmosphere was amazing."

More on the #CEVCupM here.