Zenit arrived in Doha for the FIVB Men’s Club World Volleyball Championship. All teams are ready to start the battles for the trophy today.
Zenit Kazan arrived in Doha on 01/11/2009 at 2:00 am and checked in five-star Grand Regency hotel. The trip from Kazan to Doha took about 20 hours. It all started at Kazan’s airport. The 9:55 flight to Moscow was delayed by 30 minutes and arrived in Moscow at 11:40am. Next flight to Doha was scheduled at 7:00pm. players spent seven hours waiting time differently. Some of them went to Moscow, some stayed at airport napping and some were reading. Ball was emersed into his music player. It took A330 five hours to fly from Moscow to Doha. The flight goes over Georgia, Armenia, Iran and Red Sea. Most players were sleeping during the flight.
The weather in Katar was remarkable different from Kazan’s: it was -3C in Kazan and +30C Doha. There was a slight problem upon arrival: it took 20 minutes to find Garkushenko, Kazan’s substitute setter, luggage. As result the team arrived at the hotel around 2:00 am. The players made to their rooms around 2:30am. They have less than 9 hours to rest: the practice will start next day at 11:00am in Aspire Zone. The bus ride from Grand Regency to Aspire Zone takes about 25 minutes.
All the FIVB Men’s Club World Volleyball Championship teams stayed in the same hotel. In the morning Kazan’s members met a lot of old friends. Bibichev and Bogomolov had a warm conversation with Trentino’s setter Raphael who played two seasons (2004-2006) in Kazan. Obviously Raphael retained Russian he learned playing in Russia. Scra’s assistant coach Foppa worked in Kazan in 2007 when Dynamo-TTG won the championship. Alekno had long conversation with Stoytchev and Busato, his assistant coaches for two seasons at Dynamo Moscow.
The Kazan’s doctor Tregubov said: “Some of our boys are just recovering from cold. They must be careful here: the temperature indoor is 22C, and outside is 37C. “
The team has a good practice session and everybody broke a sweat. The first game is today at 4:00pm vs. Corozal (PUR).
The “Golden Formula” would be used for the first time in this tournament. Alekno said the new rule would change the game. Blocking and the jump serves will be less valuable with this change. Kazan’s setter Lloy Ball said: “I think the existing rules are the perfect ones. But if the sponsor of the competition sets the new rules, we have to obey. I tried to practice by the new rules and it was not easy. Definitely some Arab teams will have advantage because they are already using these rules for several years. Our goal is to win the World title for our fans.”