Russian Viktor Poletaev is a high-level volleyball player. The athlete is only 21 years old, and for several seasons he has been a key player in Kazan “Zenith” and is involved in the Russian team.
School years
Victor Evgenievich Poletaev was born on July 27, 1995 in Chelyabinsk. At the beginning of his studies at school, the boy showed interest in athletics, not particularly paying attention to other sports. However, in the 5th grade, at the insistence of her first volleyball coach Lyudmila Alekseevna Timofeeva, who noticed the talent of young Viti, he moved to the school's sports class, where he began to train hard on the volleyball court.
In adolescence, having impressive data for playing volleyball, Victor Poletaev began performing at regional and national competitions as part of his school. The athlete’s power combined with his playing vision and talent did not leave indifferent scouts of professional volleyball teams, and in early 2012, the 17-year-old Russian signed his first contract, becoming a player of the Zenit volleyball club (Kazan).
Junior start
From the first days in the Kazan club, Poletaev Victor took one of the leading roles. The progress and ambitions of the athlete forced to attract attention from the coaching staff of the national team, where the Russian was called up during his first season for Zenit.
As a result, in 2013, Victor conducted training as part of the youth national team of Russia for the matches of the European Championship, to which he went already as captain. The Russians went through the tournament bracket very easily - in the group the national team lost only 2 sets in 5 meetings, defeated Belgium in the semifinal without leaving a single chance, and Poland also managed to conquer in the final, having managed to cling to one set in the match. According to the results of the tournament, Poletaeva Viktor was recognized as the most valuable player in the competition.
Double world success
Thanks to the victory at the European Championships, the Russian team selected for the world championship, where Victor was also invited. And at the World Cup, the Russians again did not experience serious resistance, becoming the undisputed winner, giving only two sets to their rivals in 8 matches. According to the results of the tournament, Poletaev was again among the best, was selected as a diagonal in the symbolic team.
Inspired by success, Victor did not stop there, and in the same 2013 he took part in the youth world championship, which was attended by athletes two years older than the Russian. But Poletaev completely closed this nuance with his experience - in a difficult struggle, the Russian team left the group from first place, eventually becoming a winner, leaving Brazil no chance in the final match. According to the results of the tournament, the youngest athlete of the competition was recognized as the best player of the championship.
Game at the base of "Zenith"
The next season was marked for the volleyball player at the base of the “Zenith”. Due to Maxim Mikhailov’s injury, Poletaev Viktor entered the main team during the Final Six games of the Russian Championship, together with the club he won the Cup of the country, as well as the national championship. In 2015, the Russian collection included a number of awards. As part of his Zenit club (Kazan), Viktor took trophies for the second time in the cup and national competitions, and also helped the team win the Champions League, the Russian Super Cup and take second place in the club world championship in Brazil, where Kazan lost in the final only the local "Cruzeiro Garden".
Every year, Viktor's progress was noticeable with the naked eye, and in September 2015, the volleyball player made his debut for the main team, playing under the leadership of Vladimir Alekno at the World Cup. 2016 was just another success for the athlete. Once again, Viktor Poletaev won several national awards, and won the Champions League for the second time in his career. But, dissatisfied with the amount of playing time due to Mikhailov’s return to the base, because of which he didn’t get to the Olympic Games, in the summer he agreed to go on loan to Kemerovo “Kuzbass”.
As part of the new club, Poletaev immediately showed how hungry he was before the game, contributing to local success and growth of the team. As a result, at the start of the championship, Victor led the championship scorers race for some time. And now the athlete is waiting for the end of the season to try again to win a place in the main team of “Zenith”.