KOS-Sintez in the final of the Eurasian water polo league

Sintez players won with a clean sweep 3:0

The third semifinal match against St. Petersburg's Baltika ultimately proved the easiest for KOS-Sintez. The game began with two goals from the Baltika players into the goal of Igor Chirkov, to which Kazan responded with goals from Ivan Vasiliev and Nikita Derevyankin, scored with a lob into an empty net. This was followed by two sharp shots from Adel Latypov and Emil Zinnurov, plus a double from Egor Yarlychenko, thanks to which Kazan went into the first break leading 6:3.

Notably, Yarlychenko had not previously been known for his scoring prowess, but here he converted a penalty awarded by the referees after a VAR review and then scored on a solo breakaway.

After such a productive start, both teams failed to score for six minutes of the second period. Kazan's Chirkov and St. Petersburg's Timofey Grachev, who had replaced Vladislav Sergeev, were flawless for a time until Emil Zinnurov finally broke Grachev's shutout. Then Yarlychenko added another goal, completing his hat-trick, after which the scoreboard momentarily froze at 9:4.
The bitterness of impending defeat was slightly alleviated by a goal from Arseny Sizenok. It should be noted that the young St. Petersburg player spent the first part of the season in the Serbian championship.

Hat-trick from the Serbian championship

Two goals from Sergei Lisunov and Vasiliev allowed Kazan to surpass the 10-goal mark. It should be noted that by this point, Kazan's recognized scorers — Arslan Zakirov, Nikolai Lazarev, and Roman Shepelev — remained goalless. Moreover, Shepelev missed a one-on-one chance he created himself at the end of the second period.

At the start of the third period, Sizenok won the opening sprint and then went on to score himself. Kazan responded with a goal from super-veteran Sergei Lisunov. The age difference between the goalscorers is 21 years. Sizenok was born in 2007 when Lisunov was just beginning his first strokes in professional sports.

Nikolai Lazarev did not score for 28 minutes; his shot, analogous to the famous football phrase “a terrifying cannon," could be called a “terrifying slingshot.” The ball flew out like a sling from David and pierced the net of the St. Petersburg goal — 13:8. The beauty of this goal rivals that of Spartak's Ruslan Litvinov against CSKA. Now the press service of the Eurasian League must distribute footage of this goal across social media reels to make their semifinal goal as popular as the one in the National Cup semifinal.

At the end of the match, there was also a substitution of Chirkov for Evgeny Kostrov, a hat-trick by St. Petersburg's Sizenok, and an inaccurate shot by Kostrov on an empty net, which could not change the final score of 15:10.

Finally won on penalties

The victory in St. Petersburg was preceded by two victories in Kazan, at their home pool “Orgsintez.” Moreover, the first game was so eventful that it could be entirely cut into reels, much like Lazarev's beautiful goal. It was a game to set the heart racing for neutral water polo fans, requiring immoderate consumption of valerian and Corvalol. Initially, Kazan led 8:5, then conceded a 12:14 run. They surged ahead again to 17:15, but a minute before the end of the match, Sergei Belyansky tied the score at 17:17. However, after becoming St. Petersburg's hero at the end of regulation, the Kazan water polo academy product faltered in the penalty shootout. His shot, like that of Baltika captain Igor Pliskevich, was saved by Igor Chirkov. Kazan won the shootout 4:2 and the match 21:19.

The saying “Revenge is a dish best served cold” might now be rewritten for “rematch.” In the distant year 2020, Baltika defeated Sintez on penalties, as Kazan was then called.

The second semifinal game was easier, as KOS-Sintez was stronger, winning 17:13. The score is relatively even, but during the game, Kazan led 15:8, and only in the final period (2:6) did KOS-Sintez allow the opponent closer. In that game, Arslan Zakirov stood out with 7 goals, and St. Petersburg's Artyom Kaltygin with 5 goals. Nevertheless, the season for St. Petersburg should already be considered successful, as they reached the top four by defeating their main rival from Moscow in a head-to-head matchup. Besides others, the season's triumphant players included Sergeev and Belyansky, as well as Askar Makhiyanov and Rail Tazeyev.

Regarding the progress of the second semifinal, the series was tied 1:1 at the time of writing. Moreover, the course of those matches was far less nerve-wracking for both participants, such a paradox. Scores were 10:7 in favor of the red-whites and 9:12 in favor of the white-blues after two games in Volgograd. The next two games in the best-of-five series will take place in Astrakhan.

Maybe we should try playing in the Challenger Cup

The season, nearing its end, will be memorable for many things. Including the two-game series between KOS-Sintez and Volgograd's Spartak, where the outcome of the Volgograd game was decided by a penalty shootout taken before the next game in Kazan. The entire history of national sports, including Soviet years, has not seen such a precedent, although anything has happened with us. Moreover, the match in Kazan, which began with penalties remaining from the previous game, also ended with a post-match penalty shootout, this time following the draw in Kazan.

The season will also be remembered for the return of Russian national teams to international tournaments, with the Russian men's team finishing 5th in the second division of the World League.

It should be noted that the full return of the national team will only happen by the 2028 World Championship. Qualification for the 2027 World Championship is already impossible, as European teams qualified based on the results of the 2026 European Championship in Serbia.

Regarding the club's return, it would be wise to consider re-entering the international calendar not from the Champions League or LEN Trophy qualification, but, for example, from the LEN Challenger Cup. For instance, the Maltese celebrated a small sporting holiday when the country's top team, Sliema, won bronze medals in the Challenger Cup, the fourth most important tournament in the European club calendar. Galatasaray won, beating Lithuanian Zaibas in the final, and Sliema beat Turkish ENKA in the bronze medal match. Galatasaray, ENKA, Sliema, Zaibas — that is the level at which we need to start the return, if not to the elite, then at least to the middle tier of world water polo, where we were before the suspension.

A whirlwind tour of Europe and beyond

Overall, a whirlwind tour of Europe and beyond… After all, this was the first official international tournament in 4 years. Japan was absent from the World Cup, citing financial circumstances. That may be true, or perhaps there is another reason. Let us recall that at the last Asian Cup, Japan was represented by a youth team that finished only fourth. The East is a delicate matter; they can hold two championships in one year. One in winter in Zhaoqing, China, where the top four were Japan, China, Kazakhstan, and Iran. And one in autumn in Ahmedabad, India, where China won, beating Iran in the final, and Kazakhstan beat Japan in the bronze medal match, with Japan sending a semi-youth/junior team to that tournament.

At one Asian championship, the Japanese won with their senior team; at the second, they tested their youth. Also absent from the current World Cup was the Iranian national team, which is somewhat stronger than participating teams Hong Kong and Singapore. Incidentally, Singapore's roster included 16-year-old player Zakhar Shmelev. On the other hand, there was much enthusiasm in the Serbian press regarding Shmelev's peer, Choi Young-jun, but that player was not on the “banana-lemon Singapore” team. By the way, at the youth level, Singapore has already beaten Kazakhstan, which for them would be like us beating Serbia, and they have now beaten South Africa.

Canada beat France in the group stage. France was a stumbling block for us at the World Cup. Interestingly, the leader of the Canadian team, Constantin Bicari, switched to the Australian national team. Player transfers from one national team to another is a feature of this sport. Just now, Croatians announced the transfer of Luke Povilard from Australia, and Argentine Thomas Ghiri debuted for Italy. Currently, another candidate for the Russian national team playing in a foreign championship is in limbo. It is high time to stop this exodus of our water polo players.