The team of Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, led by former Bulgaria coach Plamen Konstantinov, lost 1:3 (21:25, 25:20, 18:25, 20:25) to Zenit Saint Petersburg in their first group stage match of the Final Six of the 2025 Russian Cup in Kazan.

Although in the first set, Novosibirsk had a slight advantage in attack efficiency (50% vs 46%), more frequent service errors and difficulties in receiving Maxim Kosmin's float serves tilted the scales in favor of the opponent.

The second set was the strongest for Konstantinov's team – 76% success rate in attack, without a single point lost on spikes (16 out of 21), and Omar Kurbanov (5 points from 6 attempts) and Dmitry Lyzik with three blocks led the team to equalize.

After that, however, the Petersburg team, led by Vladislav Babkevich (17 points) and Yant (13), established dominance. In the third set, Babkevich picked up his game after Dmitry Kovalev came in as setter, and Zenit's block became impenetrable (4 blocking points in this set alone).

In the fourth set, Ilyas Kurkaev started with two attacks out. The substitution of Igor Kobzar with Vadim Ozhiganov did not change the scenario, and Vladimir Alekno's team closed the match.

📆 After a 1:3 loss to Zenit Saint Petersburg, Plamen Konstantinov's Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk) will seek a mandatory win against Belogorie in their second and last match of Group B of the Final Six for the Russian Cup 🏆 tomorrow.

📍 The clash is on May 7th in Kazan, where a 3:0 or 3:1 victory could give the 'railroaders' a chance to qualify for the semifinals. Everything will also depend on the result of the match on May 8th between Belogorie and Zenit SPb.

photo: lokovolley