The Bulgarian national team for boys under 16 continues its excellent performance at the Balkan Championship in Mytilene (Greece). In their second match of the tournament, the team, led by Nikolay Hadzhiivanov, defeated Romania 3:1 (25:19, 25:22, 22:25, 25:14).
This is the second consecutive success for our youngest national players, who started their participation with a decisive 3:0 (25:18, 25:20, 26:24) against Turkey.
The match against Romania, however, offered much more serious resistance. The first set started evenly, but gradually Bulgaria's serve became the team's main weapon. With Kristiyan Petkov serving, our players seriously troubled the opponent's reception and pulled ahead to 17:11. The accumulated lead was maintained until the end for 25:19.
Romania started the second set better and led 5:2 and 7:3. Bulgaria equalized at 7:7, after which the two teams continued evenly. The decisive moment came at 16:16. Stoyan Stoyanov went to serve, and our national players made a run and took a 20:16 lead. The Romanians tried to come back, but Bulgaria closed the set 25:22 and took a 2:0 lead.
In the third set, the opponent reacted. Romania started with 5:1, and this time the Bulgarian team was forced to constantly catch up. Our northern neighbors maintained their lead and won 25:22, reducing the score to 1:2.
Bulgaria's response was decisive. In the fourth set, Nikolay Hadzhiivanov's boys found their rhythm again and practically left no chance for Romania to get back into the match. The Bulgarians led 17:7 and finished the match with a convincing 25:14.
Romanian media also emphasize Bulgaria's strong serve and admit that in the fourth set their team completely lost control of the match. For Romania, the top scorer was Luca Onuțe with 16 points, and Toma added 11.
It is interesting that the Romanian coach Daniel Savoiu used all players listed in the team sheet.
After their first two matches, Bulgaria has a full record of two wins. In addition to the victory over Romania, our national players have already defeated Turkey 3:0.
The next challenge is today, September 4th. At 5:00 PM, Bulgaria will face Serbia in their third match of the Balkan Championship.

photo:bfv.bg