The Bulgarian national volleyball team for boys under 17 years old won the Balkan title! The team led by Ivan Stanev triumphed in Tirana after a dramatic 3:2 (25:22, 22:25, 25:18, 14:25, 15:7) victory over Turkey in the final.
Thus, our young national players took revenge on the Turkish team for the tie-break loss in the preliminary group. The title came in Ivan Stanev's very first official tournament at the helm of this national team.
Bulgaria started the final strongly and after an even first few minutes pulled ahead 11:7. Turkey managed to equalize at 21:21, but Stanev's boys showed character at the end. Our team reached 24:21, and a service error by Ruzgar Uzunkol brought the set – 25:22.
In the second set, Turkey took a 15:12 lead. Bulgaria closed the gap to 18:19 and 22:23, but the opponent closed the set 25:22 and equalized – 1:1.
The third set was dictated by Bulgaria. The national team took a 7:2 lead, and two aces by captain Bagdasarov made the score 10:2. The lead reached 10 points at 15:5. Turkey tried to come back, but our team again pulled ahead to 22:15. Bagdasarov scored the last point with a block-out for 25:18 and 2:1.
The Turks responded decisively in the fourth set. They led 11:6, 16:11, and 19:12, and Ivan Stanev took Bagdasarov out of the game. Turkey closed the set 25:14 and sent the final to a tie-break.
In the decisive set, Bulgaria was undisputed. Bagdasarov scored the first point, and the national team took a 5:1 lead after a block-out by Denislav Kirov. The captain made it 7:3 with a pipe attack, and the courts were switched at 8:3 for Bulgaria.
Kayo Pavlov scored for 10:4 and 11:4, with the second point coming after excellent defensive play by the Bulgarians. A block by Danil Rychiu brought match point at 14:6, and Milko Bagdasarov put an end to the final with a successful attack – 15:7.
Thus, Bulgaria defeated Turkey 3:2 (25:22, 22:25, 25:18, 14:25, 15:7) and deservedly won the gold medals at the Balkan Championship U17. Ivan Stanev started with a title in his very first official tournament at the helm of the team, and captain Milko Bagdasarov played a key role in the triumph and scored the championship point.