Bulgaria crushed Turkey 3-0 (25:15, 25:15, 25:14) to finish first in Group B. Young Jasmin Velichkov played a very strong game, finishing with 13 points, as did Alexander Kandev. Simeon Nikolov scored a monstrous 11 points for a setter (5 aces). Kostadin Kozelov and Nikolay Ivanov added 7 points each. With errors reduced to a minimum and strong serving (11 aces), our boys broke their opponents. The block also worked, bringing us 11 points. We did not relax for a moment throughout the match, with Alexander Nikolov and Ognyan Hristov coming in briefly at the end. Nikolov, who had not even fully entered, made a block, giving Bulgaria the first match point. The end of the match was crowned with a spectacular spike by Moni Nikolov from the third meter on the second ball.
Bulgaria started with the following lineup:
Simeon Nikolov, Jasmin Velichkov, Kostadin Kozelov, Stiliyan Delibosov, Alexander Kandev, Nikolay Ivanov, and libero Konstantin Chipev.
Tomorrow at 9:00 PM Bulgarian time, our boys will face Greece in the second semifinal of the competition. In the first semifinal, Serbia and Albania will meet at 6:30 PM.