Belgorod has been chosen to host the Russian Cup “Final Four” round which will take place December 2-3. 12 teams will compete for a reported 12 million rubles (approximately 206,000 USD) prize pool with the winner taking home half of the money.
Three groups of four teams will compete in the semifinal round (October 12-15) with the winner of each group earning a spot in the Final Four. Hometown club Belogorie will be given an automatic spot in the final round, and will not need to compete in the semifinals. 11 of the teams vying for the 2017 Russian Cup also compete in the Russian SuperLeague, the top volleyball league in Russia. Dagestan-Makhachkala, who competes in the Russian Vysshava League “A”, is the 12th team in the tournament.
Zenit Kazan, who features Wilfredo Leon, Maxim Mikhaylov, and Matt Anderson among others, will enter the tournament as the heavy favorite after winning four straight Russian Cups and four consecutive Russian SuperLeague championships. Zenit defeated Lokamotiv in four sets to win the title in 2016, with Belogorie taking home the bronze medal.
Group A: Kazan (Host)
- Zenit Kazan
- Ural Mountains
- Yenisei
- Dagestan-Makhachkala
Group B: Kemerovo (Host)
- Dynamo Moscow
- Kuzbass
- Nova
- Zenit St. Petersburg
Group C: Novosibirsk (Host)
- Lokomotiv
- Torch
- Yugra-Samatlor
- Dinamo-LO
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