Bulgarian juniors dramatically lost to Turkey

The Bulgarian national U19 team will fight forthe bronze medals at the Balkan Championshipwhich is being held in Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Miroslav Zhivkov's proteges played a true volleyball thriller against Turkey in the first semi-final of the tournament, but ultimately lost with2:3 (25:23, 22:25, 17:25, 25:18, 6:15)in the "Borik" hall.

The Bulgarians started strong and won the first set, then fought point for point in the second. Although they missed the chance to take a 2-0 lead, they came back in the fourth set with a convincing performance and tied at 2-2. The tie-break, however, was entirely under the control of Turkey, who imposed a tempo and pressure that the young "lion cubs" could not match.

Thus, Bulgaria will have the opportunity to fight for at least third place in the competition.

Romania also loses dramatically, but against Serbia

Our opponents in the battle for bronze will bethe Romanian national U19 teamwho lost in a similarly dramatic scenario in the second semi-final of the tournament. The "Tricolors" lost to Serbia with2:3 (29:31, 25:18, 25:20, 17:25, 10:15)in a match that lasted more than two and a half hours.

The Romanians had their strong moments and even took a 2-1 lead in sets, but failed mentally in the fourth, allowing the Serbs to force a tie-break. There, Serbia showed more composure in the decisive rallies and closed out the match.

The battle for bronze

Following these results, tomorrow (July 13) at19:00 Bulgarian timeBulgaria and Romania will face each other in a match forthe bronze medals of the U19 Balkan Championship. A new spectacular clash is expected, in which both teams will try to make amends for the missed chance to play for the title.