One of the clear favorites for the medals 7-times Russian champions Belogorie Belgorod lost in the 1 round of play-off to Gazprom-Yugra Surgitsky district by 1 winning match to 2.
After easy victory in the first game in Belgorod 3:0 (25-17,25-17,25-18) and a lot of lost opportunities in the second game in Surgut 1:3 (21-25,20-25,32-30,23-25) experienced team from Belgorod was expected to achieve straight forward win in the third game in Belgorod, but world level stars such as Tetyukhin, Musersky, Khtey could do little against well organized block and defense from Gazprom-Yugra’s players in first 2 sets. After turning the situation around in the third and fourth sets, Belgorod took the significant 12-9 lead in the fifth. But 5 points in a row from Surgut players sealed the series for them. Bulgarians best blocker of Russian league Teodor Todorov (has scored 8 killing blocks) and experienced outside hitter Todor Alexiev (18 points) were leading the team of their compatriot coach Plamen Konstantinov to a surprise victory 3:2 (25-22,25-21,18-25,14-25,15-13).
In the other 1/8 series Dinamo Krasnodar beat Kuzbass Kemerovo by 2 games to 0. Ural Ufa bt Yaroslavich Yaroslavl 2-0 and Lokomotiv Kharkov bt Fakel Novy Urengoy 2-1.
In the ¼ finals (best of 3 games) meet:
Zenit Kazan – Gazprom-Yugra Surgutsky district
Iskra Odintsovo – Dinamo Krasnodar
Dinamo Moscow – Lokomotiv Kharkov
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Ural Ufa
Belorogie alongside Kuzbass Kemerovo, Yaroslavich Yaroslavl, Fakel Novy Urengoy, Stroitel Minsk, Avtomobilist St. Petersburg, Gubernia Nizhny Novgorod, Lokomotiv-Izumrud Ekaterinburg will dispute play-out rounds.
