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It is obvious that Gazprom Ugra Surgut will have a tough time doing as good as they did in the last seasons. Top player and the most efficient player in the league from last season Bakun left, as well as top middle blocker Apalikov, top libero Kabeshov, very important Iereshchenko, Astashekov, Getman. Thius team is no 50 percent weaker compared to the last season. Top setter Brdjovic isn't at coach's disposal today, just like receiver Semyshev. It seems like middle blocker Krsmanovic won't be there either. The other setter Panchenko won't play with an injury which means Kupryzahkin will be organizing the game. Also, they came here directly from Sichi, where the team's been preparing. They mostly played on sand there and don't have any matches on this surface. Yenisej trashed Univezitet Barnaul in straight sets yesterday. This will be their 5th match of the season and we can say they have rhythm, compared to their opponents, who don't. Gazprom lost in Krasnoyarsk in straight sets last season with Bakun, Iereshchenko, Apalikov and Brđović. They probably won't do much better today. I even think we should have -2,5 at Yenisey here. Details

The Polish crushed the Germans in the last round, and I think Slovenia will get just the same treatment. Poland need to win in straight sets to get to the semifinal, and would be more relaxed in the last round against Bulgaria. Slovenia hoped to pass the group, but with three defeats in three rounds, they know their adventure is over. Of course, that won't make them less motivated, but their limitations were obvious so far. They had luck in winning a set against Germany, and Bulgaria and Ukraine crushed them in straight sets. Now the important part - Slovenia played 126 against Bulgaria, 123 points against Ukraine, and 185 against Germany. That's because of the first set Slovenia won 27-25, even though Germany had 17-21, but looking at the set the Germans won, the match would've ended at 133 points. The Polish went far over against France, then 134 against Ukraine and 128 against Germany. Also, Poland are getting better with each game, their serve started working against Germany, they crush their opponent when they smell blood, and since they had a day to rest, I don't think they'll be relying on math. Besides, their captain Kochanowski said they definitely won't underestimate Slovenia because a straight sets win would secure the first place. That might not be true completely, but at least the second place and the semifinal. It's interesting that Poland were in the same situation in the last year's cadet European Championship, after three rounds. They had two wins in straight and one in five sets, and then a day after a rest, they crushed France 25-9, 25-16 and 25-17. The Polish should win this under 129 points even with only 70-80% of their strength invested. Details

- We don't need any special motivation for the matches against Germany because no matter where we face them, these games against them are 'different'. We have faced them in the qualifications and we didn't allow them much. I hope we will demolish Germany - said Polish opposite Ziobowski. This statement shows that the Poles will give their max today, and they will probably be motivated more than ever. The rivalry between Germany and Poland is well known, but the Poles are holding the 'keys' to the game in their hands. They already faced each other this year, in Frankfurt, and it was 25-17, 25-17 and 25-12 for Poland, who were at their max the entire time and they did not hold back, so I think it will be the same today, they might try even harder. So they will be motivated both because of the rivalry and because of the battle for the semi-final. Germany played an exhausting game yesterday, they won and that will lift their confidence, but quality-wise they are not as good as their opponents. Everything here will depend solely on Poland, and the way they approach the game. The lineups are the same as in the qualifications, the only exception are the German libero and Polish setter Droszynski, so that result can be taken into account here. We should add that in that game Polish setter was Kozub instead of Droszynski. Germany are not known as a team with good reception and Poland will have superiority there, and when we add to that the fact that they have enough reserve when it comes to serving, I expect them to gain an advantage there. Kwolek, Fornal and Zlobrowski are players for whom Germany won't have any solutions and I believe that Pawlik's team will win in straight sets. Details

New season of the Russian CUp is starting in Ufa, and Ural, Dynamo Moscow, Neftyanik and two second division sides, MGTU and Gazprom Stavropol, are in Group B. Ural are starting this season with great ambitions, they are financially stable, they acquired great players and Bashkoristan's governor expects them to reach the Top and a good performance in the Cup. Acquired players worth mentioning are opposite Moroz, Kritskiy, Getman, receiver Shipotko, and they have kept their best players, receivers Kutsmus, Feoktistov, setter Kovalev. In the pre-season, coach Grebennikov only couldn't count on Volkov who was in Rio, and the most important thing is that Kovalev went through the entire pre-season and that he is not 'spent' from national team obligations. The situation at Stavropol is different. They lost all key players from last season (Kobilev, Aksyutin, Zhos, Pyatirkin, Susanin, Svidlov, Klyapnev...). The reason for that are finances, and they haven't even completed the roster. They came to Ufa with only nine players, only two setters and one libero Vishnevetskiy, who is, with Atanashenkov, the only one who 'survived' the sell out. Looking at the results in the Russian second division last season, Stavropol were horrible away with a 7-15 record, and most of those wins came while Kobilev, Aksyutin and Zhos were on the team. With that, Ufa have a rather young team, only setter Ivanov is over 24 years of age. Their championship will start in a month, while Ural's will start a week earlier, so there is difference in fitness. On one side we have ambitious home team with several world class players and based on their statements they will give their max at this tournament, and on the other side we have a second division side who lost all key players from last season and haven't completed their roster. It is important to mention that two tournaments are being played, and that three teams advance from each group, so every point will be important. The difference in quality, experience and current form is on Ural's side and I cannot see how Stavropol can do anything here. Details

Poland managed to pull themselves through a tough situation yesterday and they took that as a warning. They are a 'machine' which was very visible against France yesterday. They made 22 mistakes, 15 on serve, in the fist two sets and only 8 after that. They limited France to 15 points and to 22 in the fourth set bu they had a 21-15 lead and saved power for the fifth set. Ukraine won the war with Bulgaria but even losing wouldn't be undeserved. It was obvious that they struggle with consistency but Bulgaria were even worse. I've chosen the first set under because I expect Poland to start fiercely and in that case, Ukraine won't have much say. Poland won all the sets under this margin (44,5) at EC last year, except in the first match with Italy. They played a set at 40 points (25-15 in the final), at 41 against Russia (2-16). They allowed Turkey to get 19. Those teams are better than Ukraine. They limited the French to 9 points, Serbia and Denmark to 15, while they limited Slovakia and Belarus in EC qualifiers to 19. In qualifiers for this championship, they have an over with Denmark and then unders with Hungary (25-18) and Germany (25-17). They limited Germany in the playoff to 17 points. Ukraine have more overs than unders at this margin but none of the opponents were close to Poland in quality. Poland have 11 unders and 3 ovres at this margin when it comes to EC or WC qualifiers. Looking at their record at WC last season, they are 14-6. They went into overs with powerful Iran and Australia, in the semis and final. Ukraine spent 154 minutes on the floor yesterday and used up a lot of energy. Their two important players didn't show up for preparation period and I don't see them going 20+ here. Details

The Czech Republic and Sweden will play as part of the pre-season for the September qualifications for the EC. Both teams mentioned fatigue, and that all of the players will get a chance. Even though the match is led as official, this is not the first head-to-head between these two countries. They already played four times, but all of the matches were closed for public. The results, however, are known.

Wednesday

The Czech Republic - Sweden 3-1 (25-20, 26-24, 22-25, 31-29)
The Czech Republic - Sweden 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 22-25)

Thursday

The Czech Republic - Sweden 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23)
The Czech Republic - Sweden 2-2 (23-5, 29-31, 25-23, 25-22) - the match ended due to lack of time

So, in four matches we've seen 202, 235 (188 in four sets), 235 (187 in four sets) and 203 points. There were a lot of rotations in both teams because both of them are still up for a lot of matches, and today's one should be no exception. The experienced Marcus Nilsson is now available for Sweden, their best player and leader, and that was noticeable in game. The Czech Republic is undergoing the process of making their team younger, and a lot of young players are fighting for the positions in the qualifications. On the other hand, the Swedish selector Isacsson pointed out that he wants to see the results of the work he's made in the past period. Both teams are quite young, and because of that prone to oscillating, and since it's the early phase of preparations, everything points out to an uncertain fifth head-to-head. They went over the offered margin in all matches, even in four sets, so this is ripe for the taking. Details