Sintez substitutes meldonium for a Japanese analogue. Ready to win in Euro Cup
Kazan water polo players will fight against Italian Brescia for the trophy of Euro Cup
Water polo players of Sintez Kazan have gone through the semifinal of the Euro Cup, former LEN Trophy, for the third time in the history of the club. Just on the eve of the first final match with Italian Brescia, which will be held on 16 April in Orgsintez Swimming Pool, the club had a press conference that became a good opportunity to discuss the problems of water polo in Kazan, the republic and the country in general. And the final is the most important thing, of course. It could not help but talk about meldonium. Details are in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Dynamic and complete rival
It is not the first meeting of Sintez and Brescia in Euro Cups. Earlier this club was called Systema Leonessa. The clubs met in a 2005-2006 season in LEN Trophy, when the Kazan players were defeated on aggregate. In 2011, in the Champions League' group stage, Sintez won 9:4. The head coach of Sintez Vladimir Fedorin specified that the name and its squad have changed since that time. According to the regulation of the Euro Cup, the final series consists of two meetings. The first match will be on 16 April in Kazan, and the second will be held on 30 April in Brescia. Goal difference will define the winner of the series and the owner of the Euro Cup. It should be noted that admission to the match in Kazan will be free.
'We have studied our rival well. I've watched five games of Brescia with other teams,' Fedorin tells. 'It is a complete collective, an intelligent and dynamic team. It has two Serbians, one Spaniard and four Italians. But we are also ready for the game. We had a very tough way to the final. The guys are tuned to the fight. We will play final matches to leave the cup in Kazan. Sintez purposefully got prepared for the finals. We came back from Croatia, Split literally three days ago. We had a fully-fledged a camping in Mornar Brodospas water polo club, it is our semifinal rival in the Euro Cup. There were sparring matches with the host club. It cannot be omitted that the mentor of the Italian club Alessandro Bovo demonstrates something new in every game of Brescia.
Brescia started the season in the Champions League. At group stage, the Italian club intentionally transferred to the Euro Cup to obtain the trophy because the final rival in the Champions League could a very strong, obvious favourite of the tournament Italian Pro Recco. So, Brescia has serious plans. 'It will be very difficult for us, but we are ready. Our guys are ready to fight… The squad of the Italians is tried and tested. It is not our first match. We know that our pivots will be toughly pressed. This is why we played with Mornar in Split. They have the same tactics. It is possible that we will have to play with a more motive squad if our pivots are blocked,' Fedorin continued.
In the semifinal, Sintez played the away match first and the second one was at home. Now it will be on the contrary, how is it better for you?
Undoubtedly, it is better to have an away match first in order to play better at home when the rival is analyzed well. The first away match can be played cautiously to see the possible outcome of the second game. But here the first match will be at home. It is not the best variant, of course. So, in Kazan, we will attack to win and create a reserve for the second return match. Might the guests to size us up.
How will you solve the problem of refereeing? It is no secret that the Italians actively work with judges at home…
My business is to prepare the team. And the referees in Kazan will be from Croatia and Slovenia. In Brescia, FINA Technical Water Polo Committee Chairman Gianni Lonzi will be the delegate, and the referees will be from the USA (Marc Kogan, a Baku-born) and Israel. There will be a good team of officials.
Why were all flags with the victory dates of the team in different tournaments taken off in the hall of Sintez Swimming Pool?
It was decided to renew them and then put them back. We will try to do it before the match with Brescia.
Won't meldonium be a problem for our players?
We have not been using it since December 2015 fulfiling the conditions of WADA. It is used for rehabilitation, a kind of vitamin for the heart. It is often taken after injuries. We have a more complicated and more expensive Japanese drug that substituted meldonium.
Vladimir Fedorin: 'In the Final Four, we will fight for the first place only!'
After the duel with Brescie, Sintez will participate in the Final Four of the Championship of Russia. Spartak (Volgograd), which had 24 victories in 24 games of the championship, and Sintez have already reached this stage. Is it possible to win the Volgograd team?
It is a good question. Yes, the Volgograd players have been winning the Russian Championship for the fifth consecutive time. Spartak has a balanced, experienced and well-knit team, which is the most important thing. Yes, we lost twice by a margin of one ball in Kazan, when luck took a turn, it just went sour. But in the Final Four, we will fight for the first place only! I think it is an absolutely real thing to win Spartak in this season at least if we put all efforts…
Kazan will be a water polo Mecca
The participants of the press conference could not leave without a parade of words. The capital of Tatarstan was not only ready to host the match of the final series of Water Polo Euro Cup, but also the interest in water polo in the city is growing, according to the first Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport of Tatarstan Khalil Shaikhutdinov. 'Specialized water polo schools appeared in Zelenodolsk, Arsk District. It is planned to continue such a development in the cities and districts of the republic. These are not just plans but 'grandiose plans', Shaikhutdinov informed. And the very fact of the organization of the final match of the Euro Cup in Kazan will increase the tourist attractiveness of the city.
'I believe that Kazan will be a water polo Mecca. It is enough to say that our national teams of the republic in five age division – 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 – became the champions of Russia in recent years! We have a well-coordinated system of preparation of players. We hope that a swimming pool in Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism will open on 1 September. Every year we leave people to go to other teams where they develop. The most important thing is that they are not to make mistakes themselves.
Moreover, Shaikhutdinov hoped for appearance of women's water polo team in the republic in time.
The president of Water Polo Federation of Tatarstan, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Republic of Tatarstan, champion of the Russian Water Polo Championship, veteran world champion Ilkham Nasibullin dwelled on global problems of the national team of Russia. He carefully observed the development in Trieste, where an Olympic Qualification Tournament took place on 3-9 April. The national team of Russia had a victory (over the national team of Slovakia), two defeats (by Hungary and Canada) and a tie (with Romania). Men's national water polo team of Russia has failed to reach the Olympic Games for the third time.
'The generation of winners passed, the new one has not been formed yet. There is a lack of mastery and teamwork. It takes time,' Nasybullin says. 'The national team of Russia lacked mastery and sports luck because our guys, Artyom Odintsov from Sintez, are playing there. Undoubtedly, they put efforts, started the matches with a desire to win. Now water polo players need to take part in a maximal number of competitions to gain experience and hone their skills. Water polo is a dynamically developing game, and its rules are changing. Kazan is the main development centre of water polo in the republic, here we have the best pupils. Those who don't play in Sintez will play in other teams. There is a corresponding agreement on the exchange of players with a sports school in Novosibirsk. We have a task to develop water polo in the district of the republic. We are elaborating corresponding directions in our work, a special person will deal with each of these directions,' Ilkham Nasybullin stated.