Russia settles for third slot in 2011 CEV Boys’ Youth European Championship
Following a defeat from France in the semi-final match, Russia was all up to clinch the bronze-ware.
In the semi-final, Russia was joined by loser of the second semi-final, Bulgaria. The third-position match was held on Sunday, April 24 at the Baskent sports hall in Ankara, Turkey. The interesting encounter continued for 96 minutes and finally ended with
Russia’s victory.
The opening phase of the game was dominated by Bulgarian hitters, who worked out exquisite pipes and put their team in lead. Russia spent some time to grasp the game plan of opponents and formed an appropriate strategy. Bulgarian team led the score with
three-point lead at the first technical timeout (FTT). Russian captain put his magic in the game and showed some hard spiking to the opponents. The unstoppable cross-court shots tricky bump-passes of Russian players earned them better status.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria committed too many unforced mistakes and suffered the setback. The Russian side took full advantage of the situation and put more pressure on the rivals. Eventually, the Bulgarian team had to face defeat in the 22nd minute
of first set. Russia secured the opening set 25-19.
Bulgaria hit back strongly in the following set. They put up a valiant effort and clawed their way back in the game. Bulgaria managed to take a one-point lead in the first technical timeout. The useful lead enticed Bulgarian team to further stretch the gap
of points. They remained on the same route and widened the gap of four points at the second technical timeout (16-12). The spiking faults of Russia allowed Bulgaria to take control of the operations.
Bulgarian Krasimir Georgiev was the most highlighted player in the second set. He put up a great effort and raised his team’s score by all means. Russia failed to bring any change in the set, while Bulgaria hit the mark with second-set win (18-25).
After dropping the second set, Russia tried to cover the deficit. They managed to steal points from Bulgaria and picked up a lead of 3 points at FTT. The Russian captain and his teammates stayed united to the cause and pushed Bulgaria behind the attack line.
Long rallies were exchanged and Bulgaria did come close to Russia at the second technical timeout. However, Russia sparked on the scene with better game and kept an upper-hand on the rival side. Russia successfully extended its lead to 2-1 with second-set
victory at 25-20.
Bulgaria opened the fourth set with an ambition to create a tie in the game. They earned a three-point lead at the first technical timeout. On other side of the net, Russian struggled to put an end to the competition. They threw everything in attack and
jumped on every little opportunity.
A tie at 18-all created an interesting situation in the game. There was not any room for silly mistakes in the crucial part of the game. Somehow, Bulgaria committed a serve error, which led them to a disaster. Russia emerged as victorious by winning the
fourth set (25-21).
Vladimir Manerov, the successful captain of the Russian team expressed delight about the bronze-medal victory.
He said, “It’s an outstanding feeling to win the bronze medal at such an important event. We trained many years to achieve this goal.”
In the meantime, the Russian head coach Vladimir Kondra commented that it was an important match for Russia. After losing in the semi-finals, it had become necessary for team to win the third-position match.
He praised the combined effort of boys in the Russian squad. On the other hand, Bulgarian coach Victor Karagiozov called a learning experience for his team. He said that his team could not win the match but it learned some important tips and tricks, which
will probably help them in the upcoming tournaments.
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