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

Not long ago, Bet News paid attention to something similar. But back then, we took a retrospective look into the past, examining 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 conditions of access to the international arena and participation in European cups, this tension could often be mixed. Cheering against a competitor within the country is one thing, but when they represent the country — it's another.

Therefore, in this material, we will focus on the most principled rivalries in current 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 is undoubtedly the hegemon on the domestic arena. The "white-blues" have established such a mode of dominance since the very beginning of the club's existence that it is not easy to not only beat them but even to take at least some 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 equal from 2013 to 2019. In just four years of existence, Yuri Maleyev's students have already added a whopping 11 trophies to their collection! They only missed 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 Asaul, 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 foreign adventures from "Minsk" and returned to Belarus, reaching agreements with the 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 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 traveled to the capital in significant numbers — but from Minsk.

Those who went to support "Stroitel" last year are now passionately cheering for "Shakhtar." And, it must be said, 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 surely makes it more hurtful for the Minsk club.

However, "Stroitel" this season didn't even get the chance to reclaim its audience and settle scores with its main competitor. In the semifinals, Oleg Mikanoich's team sensationally dropped out, losing to Gomel's "Energia" (2:3). So now they can only 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 women, the championship title has not yet been 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 have been BNTU-BelAZ and "Gomel" for many years. However, the decisive series has reached familiar faces.

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. At one time, the flagship was "Polytech," but in the early 2020s, "Gomel's" list of achievements began to grow at a faster pace. It seemed that this year, Alexander Madjarov's team would have no trouble confirming their class. But no. BNTU-BelAZ has already won the Betera Cup of Belarus and is leading 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. No, occasionally, of course, Grodno's "Olympia" manages to disrupt the hierarchy, but this is more of an exception than the rule. Because "Horizont" and "Minsk" rule the ball.

Here, unlike other uncompromising tandems, the coaching rivalry also comes into play. Because neither club has seen a change in leadership for a very long time. Andrei Vavlev has been leading the women's team of "Minsk" since 2014. Natalia Trofimova took office in 2015 and initially combined her coaching duties 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 is now assisting Trofimova.

"Minsk" actively involves 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 Rytikova, 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" broke the three-year hegemony of "Horizont," 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. One can mention the current rivalry between "Metallurg" and "Gomel," as well as "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 spin 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," having won its fourth championship in a battle with "Brest," lags behind the Grodno team by an order — three titles. "Yunost" has three more. By the way, the recent final of the Betera Extra League was the first in 17 years in which at least one of the domestic giants did not participate.

The most intriguing matchups were probably in the mid-2010s, when Zakharov worked with "Yunost," and "Neman" was led by the current coach of Brest, 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 away any titles again?

Gold and silver have gone to these clubs for the 11th time in a row! In no other team sport in Belarus is there such a phenomenon — that no one else is allowed to come close to the title at such a distance. At the same time, if during the season the "army" managed to beat the main competitor, the outcome still remained unchanged — the triumph of the meshkovtsy.

Brest is a model business project of the Meshkovs, where patrons and leaders love handball and have not cooled to it for two decades. Legionnaires, including "national team" players, willingly come here, even now — despite the team's suspension from the Champions League. SCA is a famous school dating back to the Soviet era. No talented capital handball player passes by it — since the "Arkatron" ceased to exist. That very opposing philosophy adds 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 on their calendars as soon as the draw for the calendar takes place.

There are countless uncompromising episodes in this rivalry — consider, since the late 1990s, when BATE firmly entered the elite of the top league with the unchanging chairman of the club's board, Anatoly Kapski. 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 Kapski fell out. The injury of Vitaly Rodionov, inflicted by Dmitry Gushchenko, after which the Dinamo fan sector chanted "Unois" at the striker. 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...

What’s more: it seems that even now, when Yuri Chizh has stepped back from affairs and when Anatoly Kapski is no longer alive, and BATE is listed as a mid-table team, it still burns. 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," BK "Horizont."