The Russian Powerhouse of Dinamo Moscow are the 2021 CEV Volleyball Cup Men champions. On Thursday, they outperformed at 3-1 their compatriots from Zenit Saint Petersburg showing better concentration in the decisive moments. 12 aces and better performance on attack made the difference for the Moscow team. Yarloslav Podlesnykh and Anton Semyshev topped the charts for their team’s victory, but 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.

The Volleyball fans attending the final in Silbur Arena St.Petersburg enjoyed a great atmosphere and high-class action provided by both teams.
Inspired, the guests from Moscow entered the match better on attack. 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 in their favour. Both teams were showing equal skills on the block in these moments (3 each).

With the situation on the court heated up, the Volleyball supporters in Silbur Arena witnessed some great rallies in the next set. For the hosts, Oreal Camejo Durruthy shined in the beginning of this part, while for the guest team Yaroslav Podlesnykh was storming out on the court. While Zenit had improved on attack, Dinamo excelled on the 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. Error by Sokolov on the serve, helped the guests to tie the score.

Zenit and Dinamo were breathing down each other’s necks in the third set, showing equal performance in the different components. Dinamo Moscow took control on attack, but Ivan Iakovlev of Zenit’s team, 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. 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 saved Zenit’s hopes alive. It was a cat-and-mouse game in the end of the volleyball clash, but Dinamo showed nerves of steel in the key moments. Pavel Pankov had the final word putting the end of the discussion with a strong ace bringing the #CEVCupM title in the Russian capital.

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

Pavel Pankov, captain of Dynamo 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 strart preparations for the Final Six of Russian Championship."

Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Zenit: "Of course, we are very disappointed. We were close to win 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 athmosphere was amazing."