Jesi.Allianz Milano with Georgi Tatarov qualified for the final of the international tournament Jesi Volley Cup in the Italian city of Jesi. In the first semifinal, Guillermo Falasca's team defeated Olympiacos, led by former Hebar Pazardzhik coach Alberto Giuliani and for whom Martin Atanasov plays, with a score of 3:1 (25:17, 19:25, 25:21, 25:22).

Bulgarian international Georgi Tatarov played a full match and finished with 12 points, scoring 10 from attack and 2 from block. The receiver achieved 42% efficiency in attack (10 successful attacks out of 24 attempts), and in reception, he recorded 71% positive and 29% perfect plays from 14 serves directed at him.

The top scorer for the winners was Belgian international Basil Dermaux with 27 points. He made 19 successful attacks out of 36 attempts (53%), added 7 points from block, and 1 ace. Martin Atanasov appeared on the court in the first and fourth sets for Olympiacos. The Bulgarian receiver finished with 3 points from attack with 33% efficiency (3 out of 9), and in reception, he registered 25% positive and 17% perfect plays from 12 serves.

Statistics show Milano's advantage in blocking and attack. The Italian team finished with 24 points from block against 23 for Olympiacos, and attack efficiency was 44% against 44% respectively. Both teams recorded 9 aces each. Milano scored 46 points from attack against 41 for the Greek team. In reception, Olympiacos had 51% positive plays against 55% for the winners. Thus, the Italian team managed to compensate for the higher number of service errors with better reception and more effective attack.

In Sunday's final, which starts at 6:00 PM local time (7:00 PM Bulgarian time), Allianz Milano will meet the winner of the match between Cucine Lube Civitanova of Alex and Simeon Nikolov and the Japanese Suntory Sunbirds Osaka, where the player with Bulgarian roots Daniel Chitigoi plays.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov