FROM THE KNIFE AND WITHOUT COMPROMISES. PRINCIPLED DUELS IN OUR SPORT

Bet News recently paid attention to something similar. But back then we took a retrospective look into the past, considering sometimes "triumvirate" rivalries and focusing on individual sports.

Azaranko vs Sobolenko, and what else? Top 10 rivalries in our sports

Now, at the end of the season in national team championships, let's delve into another area — team sports. Independent Belarus has seen many epochal rivalries everywhere. In hockey, "Keramin" had its own scores to settle with "Yunost." In women's basketball, throughout the 2000s, the championship title was invariably contested by "Olympia" and "Berezina." The battles between the handball team of Minsk's "Dinamo" and BHK in the early 2010s were particularly intense.

However, all of this is a page in history, and it has already been turned. Especially under the conditions of access to the international arena and participation in European cups, this tension could often be mixed. Cheering against a domestic rival is one thing, but when they represent the country — that's another.

Therefore, in this material, we will focus on the most principled rivalries in contemporary Belarusian sports. We will emphasize once again: we are talking about team sports.

Football. Women. "Minsk" — "Dinamo"-BSUFC

The revived women's team of Minsk's "Dinamo" since the 2020 season has been an undeniable hegemon on the domestic arena. The "white-blues" from the very beginning of the club's existence entered a mode of such dominance that it is not easy to not only beat them but even to take any points. Just consider: Belarusian Championship 2020 — 52 points out of 54 possible, ChB-2021 — 81 out of 81, ChB-2022 — 77 out of 81, ChB-2023 — 90 out of 90.

Moreover, the women's Dinamo team replaced... precisely "Minsk," which had no equals from 2013 to 2019. In four years of existence, Yuri Maleyev's students have already filled their collection with as many as 11 trophies! And they missed only one — of course, in the capital derby. This happened quite recently: on March 10, in the Betera Supercup dispute, everything was decided by a goal from Ulyana Asaulya, scored in the 26th minute — 1:0.

Another peculiarity is that several graduates of "Minsk" or simply footballers who previously represented this club now play for "Dinamo": Yulia Slesarchik, Anna Sas, Anastasia Shuppo, Anna Pilipenko... Each of them went on to play abroad from "Minsk," but returned to Belarus, reaching an agreement with their most principled competitor.

Volleyball. Men. "Stroitel" — "Shakhtar"

This fierce rivalry has its own, unique piquancy. Right now, Soligorsk's "Shakhtar," which replaced "Stroitel" as the country's representative in the Russian Volleyball Super League starting from the 2023/24 season, benefits not only from its place in the league but also from many other things. For example, the Uruche sports palace, where they host guests from the neighboring country, and most importantly — the army of fans. By the way, not so much from Soligorsk — although fans from the potash city also made their way to the capital in considerable numbers — but also from Minsk.

Those who went to support "Stroitel" last year are now cheering for "Shakhtar." And, it must be admitted, they do it more diligently and in greater numbers. Anyone who attended the home matches of the "miners" in the Russian championship can attest: the atmosphere is now more vibrant and impressive than it was a year ago when "Stroitel" was "outsidering" in the Super League. And this must surely be more upsetting for the Minsk club.

However, "Stroitel" this season did not even get the chance to reclaim its audience and settle scores with its main competitor. In the semifinals, Oleg Mikanovich's team sensationally dropped out, losing to Gomel's "Energia" (2:3). Now all they can do is sharpen their teeth and remember the glorious stretch from 2010 to 2016, when the title was held unchangingly by the Minsk team.

Handball. Women. BNTU-BelAZ — "Gomel"

This season, which is still ongoing for the women, the championship title has yet to be determined. But it can already be said that it has been quite interesting and more unpredictable than before. During the championship, "Gorodnichanka" and "Berestye" managed to slow down the favorites, which for many years have been BNTU-BelAZ and "Gomel." However, the faces that reached the decisive series are well known.

The handball players from the capital and the banks of the Sozh have been contesting all national trophies only against each other since the second half of the 2010s. For a while, the flagship was "Politekh," but in the early 2020s, the list of achievements of "Gomel" began to grow at a faster pace. It seemed that this year, Alexander Madjarov's team would have no obstacles to confirming their class. But no. BNTU-BelAZ has already taken the Betera Cup of Belarus and led after a home victory in the final series of the championship. Will there be gold for the first time since 2021?

Basketball. Women. "Horizont" — "Minsk"

Two opposing teams that do not allow anyone to intrude into the battle for either the Cup or the Belarusian championship. Occasionally, of course, Grodno's "Olympia" manages to disrupt the hierarchy, but this is more of an exception to the rule. The balance of power is dominated by "Horizont" and "Minsk."

Here, unlike other uncompromising tandems, there is also a coaching rivalry. Neither club has seen a change in leadership for a very long time. Andrey Vavlev has been leading the women's team of "Minsk" since 2014. Natalia Trofimova took office in 2015 and initially combined her role as a coach with sporadic appearances on the court. So soon it will be a decade since both have been at the helm of the benches of women's basketball giants. And another interesting detail: the well-known Alexey Pintikov once worked in Vavlev's staff and now assists Trofimova.

"Minsk" actively employs legionnaires, and it is the dark-skinned Americans like Kiana Johnson who define the face of today's "dragons." "Horizont" bets on veterans, thanks to whom the national team shone in the 2010s: Yulia Rytykova, Olga Zyuzkova, Victoria Gasper, Anastasia Veremeyenko. Surely, if they want, they will find a place in the club even after their careers end, as the team manager has become Marina Kress.

This year, "Minsk" interrupted "Horizont's" three-year hegemony, marching through the distance without a single defeat not only in the regular championship but also in the playoffs. What will happen next, as Trofimova's stars are not getting any younger?..

Hockey. Men. "Neman" — "Yunost"

In Belarusian hockey, several matchups have been significant at different stages. We can mention the current rivalry of "Metallurg" with "Gomel," and "Yunost" with Minsk's "Dinamo": just recall how in preseason tournaments, when the KHL had already appeared, Mikhail Zakharov went out of his way to trip the "bison." The mention of "Keramin" in the preamble above has already been made.

However, no matter how you look at it, the label of a kind of hockey "classico" has long been attached to "Neman" and "Yunost." They are the most titled clubs in independent history. Zhlobin's "Metallurg," which won its fourth championship in a battle against "Brest," lags behind the Grodno team by an order — three titles. "Yunost," on the other hand, has three more. By the way, the recent Betera-Extraliga final was the first in 17 years in which at least one of the domestic giants did not participate.

The most intriguing matchups were perhaps in the mid-2010s when Zakharov worked with "Yunost," and "Neman" was led by the current Brest coach Sergey Pushkov.

Handball. Men. SCA — "Meshkov Brest"

Another round of this rivalry recently concluded: "Meshkov Brest" won the gold of the Betera Super League. Although SCA will have a chance to settle scores: ahead is the final of the Betera Cup of Belarus and the "final four" of the SEHA league. Will the Brest team, after the arrival of Eduard Koksharov, manage to not give up any titles again?

Gold and silver have been claimed by these clubs for the 11th time in a row! No other team sport in Belarus has seen anything like this — where no one else has been allowed so close to the title. Moreover, if during the season the "army men" managed to beat their main competitor, the outcome still remained unchanged — the triumph of the "meshkovtsy."

Brest is a model business project for the Meshkovs, where patrons and leaders love handball and have not cooled towards it for two decades now. Legionnaires, including "national team" players, willingly come here, even now — despite the team's exclusion from the Champions League. SCA is a renowned school, dating back to the Soviet era. No talented capital handball player passes by it — ever since "Arkatrone" ceased to exist. That very antithetical philosophy adds a bit of spice.

Football. Men. BATE — "Dinamo Minsk"

It would be strange if we didn't include football "classico" in this top. In fact, you probably guessed that it occupies a central place in the chart. BATE against "Dinamo" is what fans mark in their calendars as soon as the draw for the schedule takes place.

There are countless uncompromising episodes in this rivalry — consider it from the late 1990s, when BATE firmly invaded the top league elite with the unchanging chairman of the club's board Anatoly Kapsky. And it replaced Minsk's "Dinamo" as the flagship, if we ignore rare flashes like "Dnepr" and "Slavia."

The departure of Igor Kriushenko to Minsk's "Dinamo," with whom Kapsky fell out. The injury to Vitaly Rodionov, inflicted by Dmitry Gushchenko, after which the Dinamo fan sector chanted "Take him away" at the forward. The fallout between BATE and Alexander Gutor and his subsequent move to "Dinamo." The oath of love to the white-blue colors by Stas Dragun, who later became the captain of BATE...

And what about now: it seems that even after Yuri Chizh stepped back and Anatoly Kapsky is no longer alive, and BATE is considered a mid-table team, it still flares up. Just recall the quarterfinal battles in the Betera Cup of Belarus. With the personal scores that Oleg Nikiforenko had with Vadim Skripchenko.

Author: Grigory Trofimenko.
Photo: press services of FC "Dinamo" M, GC "Meshkov Brest," VK "Stroitel," GC BNTU-BelAZ, HC "Neman," BC "Horizont."