Wilfredo Leon catches the Sada Cruzeiro block out of sync, as he leads Zenit Kazan to an impressive win in the semifinals of the 2017 FIVB Men's Club World Championship in Krakow.
Krakow, Poland, December 16, 2017 - European and Russia champions Zenit Kazan took revenge for losing to Sada Cruzeiro in the last two finals of the competition with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) sweep of their arch rivals in the first semifinal of the 2017 FIVB Men's Club World Championship here today.
This knocked the defending champions out of contention in the defence of their title and the South America and Brazil champions will have to settle for the bronze medal game on Sunday.
Cuban-born Wilfredo Leon from the outside with 20 points and opposite Maxim Mikhaylov with 14 led the scoring for Zenit, as both clocked attacking efficiency above the 50% mark - Leon at 64% (16/25) and Mikhaylov at 55% (11/20).
For Zenit this will be their third straight Club World Championship final in their quest for that all-elusive gold. In addition to the silver medals in 2015 and 2017, Zenit also picked bronze medals in 2009 and 2011 as well as finishing fourth in 2012.
Sunday's final, at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT) will see Zenit meeting the winner of the Cucine Lube Civitanova v PGE Skra Belchatow semifinal.
Earlier, starting at 17:30 (16:30 GMT), Sada Cruzeiro will play the loser of the other semifinal for bronze.
Quick links - Volleyball:FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship 2017
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship 2017 - ScheduleFIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship 2017 - Teams
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