User:Nchudanova/Russian Men's Volleyball Cup

Russia Men's Volleyball Cup is the second major competition, after Russian Volleyball Super League, in Russia. The competition started 1993, and since 2009 it is named after Konstantin Reva.

Competition system
Russian Cup consists of three stages: preliminary stage, semifinal stage and knockout round.

The preliminary stage takes place before the start of the Russian Championship and consists of several zonal tournaments. Games of the preliminary stage can be played without players of the Russian national team. And the clubs that have sent three or more players to the national team, go to the semifinal stage independently from the result. The semifinal and final stages takes place in full complement of players of the national team.

From 2003 to 2008, 16 teams participated in the semifinal stage, which was divided into 4 groups. The winners of the groups reached the "Final Four". In 2009 the teams of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Ukraine were admitted to the Cup of Russia. In 2011, Stroitel Minsk and Lokomotyv Kharkiv were approved for the CUP. In 2014 and in 2015, Stroitel Minsk was admitted. Since 2009, the formula for the final stage is changing.

In 2015, due to the long season of the national teams, the Cup series were held on a reduced scheme and consisted of two stages.

History
Competitions for the Russian Cup were held in 1993 for the first time. For a decade, this tournament was not particularly popular and was actually a stage of preseason preparation. All matches, including finals, were held in summer or early autumn, in the absence of the strongest Russian players delegated to the national team.

In 2003, the Russian volleyball federation changed the format of the competition. It organized the final stage at a more convenient time for clubs, namely at end-December. This led to an increase in the level of matches and the status of the Russian Cup itself. The very first "Final Four", played in Dynamo Palace of Sports, was sold out, and the deciding match between VC Belogorie and VC Dynamo Moscow was remembered by all volleyball fans for a long time.

Since 2005, the winner of the Russian Cup secures a berth at the CEV Champions League. However, in 2012 by decision of the European Volleyball Confederation the right of the Cup holder to play in the main European club tournament was abolished.

The largest number of wins has VC Zenit-Kazan (9). VC Belogorie won 8 times, VC UEM Izumrud registered three victories, both VC Dynamo Moscow and VC Lokomotiv Novosibirsk registered two victories. VC Yugra-Samotlor, VC CSKA Moscow and VC Iskra Odintsovo won the Rissian Cup once. The most titled players are Sergey Tetyukhin (10 wins) and Aleksey Verbov (8 wins), who played for VC Belogorie and VC Zenit-Kazan.

Publications

 * Кубок России // Волейбол : Энциклопедия / Сост. В. Л. Свиридов. — М.: Человек, Спорт, 2016. — С. 187—191. — ISBN 978-5-906131-79-9.