Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, with Bulgarian national Simeon Nikolov, will compete for the bronze medals in the Russian Cup tournament tomorrow against Zenit Kazan, after dramatically losing the semifinal against Dynamo Moscow with a score of 2:3 (25:22, 18:25, 25:22, 23:25, 11:15) in the Russian capital.
The Novosibirsk team started the match strongly and took the lead in the first set after an ace by Dmitry Lyzik and a successful block by Ilyas Kurkaev against Dmitry Zhuk, making it 18:16. New attack errors from the Moscow players followed, and Lokomotiv maintained their advantage. Opposite hitter Ilya Kazachenkov was key to their success with 7 points in the opening set with excellent attack efficiency.
In the second set, the hosts reacted through Maxim Sapozhkov's powerful serve, who scored three consecutive aces early on to make it 6:3. Dynamo dominated in blocking and was much more effective in attack, equalizing the score after a convincing 25:18.
The third set became one of the key moments of the match. Lokomotiv was trailing 12:17, but Simeon Nikolov's service run completely turned the tide. The Bulgarian setter recorded two aces, seriously troubled the opponent's reception, and helped secure a comeback to 19:17. Towards the end of the set, Sapozhkov's attack errors allowed Lokomotiv to take the lead in the match again.
Dynamo, however, reached a tie-break after a contested fourth set. The Moscow players overcame an early 1:4 deficit, and Sapozhkov was the team's leader with 8 points in the set and 64% attack efficiency. It was he who sent the match into a decisive fifth set with an attack down the line.
In the tie-break, the hosts asserted their dominance through their blocking. Sapozhkov stopped Sam Deroo, and then Ilya Vlasov blocked Kazachenkov to make it 12:9. It was Vlasov who ended the semifinal with another successful block against Deroo for the final score of 15:11.
The top scorer in the match was Maxim Sapozhkov with 28 points, including an impressive 8 aces. For Lokomotiv, Ilya Kazachenkov and Kurbanov scored 15 points each, while Sam Deroo added 13.
Simeon Nikolov finished with 6 points, 3 aces, and 1 block.
Serving also proved to be a decisive factor, as Dynamo won direct points from serves with a 12:7 advantage.
Tomorrow, Lokomotiv will face Zenit Kazan in the battle for third place, while in the final, Dynamo Moscow will meet Zenit Saint Petersburg, who has never won the Russian Cup but has played in the final three times (2018, 2019, 2020).
The reigning holder of the Russian Cup is Lokomotiv, who has three trophies in its history – in 2010, 2011, and 2025. The absolute leader in titles remains Zenit Kazan with 12 cups, followed by Belogorie with 8 and Dynamo with 4.