Turkey achieved its first victory at the Men's European Championship after defeating Switzerland 3:0 (25:23, 25:19, 25:19) in their third match of Group D in Cluj.
The result is of direct interest to Bulgaria as well. The reason is that the participants in our Group B in Sofia will meet the qualifiers from Group D in the round of 16. The pairings are according to the scheme B1–D4, B2–D3, B3–D2, and B4–D1.
Turkey entered the match against Switzerland after two defeats, but the clean victory brought them back into the fight for a place in the top 4. After three played matches, the Turks are fifth with one win, two losses, and 3 points. Latvia also has one win and 3 points, but has only played two matches.

The situation behind Germany and France remains open. It is especially important that Latvia has one less match played, so Turkey's current fifth place does not mean elimination. The top scorer against Switzerland was Efe Bayram with 17 points, and Adis Lagumdzija also finished with 17. For the Swiss, Weissig scored 15, and Migge – 11 points.

The two Turkish attacking leaders provided the necessary balance to the team, which, after a contested first set, controlled the next two much more convincingly. The victory also brought Turkey 3.68 points for the world ranking. The team now has 255.70 points and climbed one position to No. 11 in the world. This is also interesting from a Bulgarian perspective, as Turkey is among the teams immediately behind Bulgaria in the world ranking. The Turks' next match could be even more important for the group standings. On September 14, they face host Romania. The developments in Group D will determine which of its representatives will cross paths with Bulgaria in the first elimination round.

photo: cev.eu