“…and a few people know that this victory was really suffered” – said Bulgarian coach after the win over Egypt that gave his team a ticket to this year’s Olympic Games.
In the atmosphere of chaos and fights between the Bulgarian coach (supported by some players) and the Bulgarian Federation the Balkan team had the last chance to get their Olympic tickets. The tournament played in Sofia, didn’t bring many surprises and in the end won the hosts, able to mobilize all the forces in front of unfavorable circumstances.
Matey Kaziyski and his teammates dominated the tournament, winning all three matches: firstly quick victory in straight sets over Pakistan, then thrilling match with France won 3-1 and, to conclude, a 3-1 win over Egypt in front of 10,000 fans gathered in Armeec Arena.
Big emotions accompanied Radostin Stoytchev after the match: “I want to thank my assistan coach Camillo Placì and to say that our team deserved this victory. Thank you all, the players, the headquarters and last but not least the journalists but I am afraid I will forget someone so I apologize. I don’t want to talk about the technical side of the match because the emotional one was much bigger”.
It’s the eighth time in the history that Bulgaria will partecipate in the Olympic Games.
The best scorers of this tournament were Earvin Ngapeth (FRA) with 48 points, Tsvetan Sokolov (BUL) – 42 and Mohamed Badawy (EGY) – 32.
Full standings:
1. Bulgaria 9
2. France 6
3. Egypt 3
4. Pakistan 0
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Photo: FIVB