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Latest news from the world of volleyball
Dimana Ivanova: We have no right to more losses
The setter of the Bulgarian women's national volleyball team U20, Dimana Ivanova, believes that the team has no right to any more losses at the European Championship after the defeat by Belgium on Tuesday. "We didn't expect the loss. We told ourselves that there are still matches, the tournament is long, and we still have a chance. We have no right to more losses, that was the only one. Maybe we can only afford one more loss to qualify for the World Championship," Ivanova commented to the federation's website.
European champion Darina Naneva will play for Serbian Jedinstvo Stare Pazove
European champion Darina Naneva will play for Jedinstvo Stare Pazove in Serbia. This became clear after a meeting between the mayor of Maritsa Municipality, Dimitar Ivanov, and Naneva, reported on the municipality's Facebook page. It was also announced there that at the next session of the municipal council, the talented volleyball player will receive an award from the Municipality. 14-year-old Darina Naneva, who won the U18 European Women's Volleyball Championship with the national team, was welcomed in Maritsa Municipality by Mayor Dimitar Ivanov. The young volleyball player from Skutare also received the award for best middle blocker of the championship, which our national team won after defeating Belgium 3-0 in sets, recording a historic European title for Bulgarian volleyball.
Giovanni Guidetti resigned after Serbia's loss in the quarterfinals
Giovanni Guidetti resigned after Serbia's quarter-final loss, media in our western neighbor report.Guidetti took responsibility for Serbia's loss to Italy in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympic Games. The Serbian women's volleyball team failed to qualify for the Olympic Games semi-finals after losing to Italy 3:0 (26:24, 25:20, 25:20). "We lost to an opponent who played better than us. We hoped for a medal, now the elimination is not what we wanted. This is a bad result for Serbia.
Ivaylo Ivanov is the second referee for the France - Italy men's semifinal.
The best Bulgarian referee Ivaylo Ivanov received an appointment for the men's semi-final France - Italy from the program of the Paris Olympics. He will be the second referee in the match. For seven consecutive days, Ivanov has not missed a day without a match. The most attractive of them was Italy's dramatic qualification after a 3:2 win over Japan, when he was the first referee and received a very high rating. Ivanov is among the most highly-rated referees in world volleyball.
Poland without Bieniek in the semi-final against USA
Poland will play without its middle blocker Mateusz Bieniek in this afternoon's semifinal against the USA. Bieniek's Olympic tournament in Paris has ended due to injury, according to the Polish Volleyball Federation. At the end of the quarterfinal match against Slovenia (3:1), the 30-year-old volleyball player twisted his left ankle. Thus, only two blockers remain available to head coach Nikola Grbić - Jakub Kochanowski and Norbert Huber.Instead of Bieniek, the reserve player - third opposite Bartłomiej Bołądź - was included in the squad. In his position on the team are Bartosz Kurek and Łukasz Kaczmarek.The European champions, Poland, will fight for a place in the final with the USA team.The Olympic champions from Tokyo and 2024 Nations League winners, France, will play against the reigning world champions, Italy.
Italy beat Serbia and are one win away from their first Olympic medal in women's volleyball, Ognjenović retired from the national team
World number one Italy defeated world champions Serbia in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Games, qualifying for an Olympic semi-final for the first time. The Italians started the match unconvincingly but subsequently took control and closed it out 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-20).The battle between the top scorers Paola Egonu and Tijana Bošković was one of the main attractions of the match, with both stars finishing the game with 19 points each – Egonu had one block and one ace, while Bošković registered only one point from a serve. Besides Egonu, Italy also relied on Caterina Bosetti, who finished with 6 points; centers Sara Fahr and Anna Danesi added the same amount. Miriam Sylla also scored six points. For Serbia, Bianka Buša and Aleksandra Uzelac finished with eight and seven points, respectively.Serbia's higher number of unforced errors (25 to 16) proved crucial, as despite this, the world champions scored more points in attack (42 to 39).
Bulgaria with first loss at the European Championship, we fell to Belgium with 0:3
Bulgaria suffered its first loss at the European Women's U20 Championship, which our country is co-hosting with Ireland (August 5-17). On the second day of the championship, we lost to Belgium 0-3 (23-25, 19-25, 18:25). The Bulgarians had chances to challenge their opponent only in the first set, when the score was 23:25. Yesterday, the Belgians lost with the same result to Turkey. In our first match, we defeated Sweden 3-1.Head coach Borislav Krachanov opted for the following starting lineup:Margarita Guncheva, Elena Kolarova, Viktoria Koeva, Iva Dudova, Maria Zlatanova and libero Viktoria NinovaFor the second consecutive match, Iva Dudova is the top scorer for the Bulgarian team, scoring 10 points today.
USA defeated Poland and will meet Brazil one step away from defending the title
The current Olympic champions are one step closer to defending their title after defeating Poland 3:0 (25:22, 25:14, 25:20) in the third quarter-final of the day. In a爭奪 for a spot among the top two, the Americans will face Brazil, who can take revenge for the last Olympic final, where "Seleção" lost 3:0. Americans and Brazilians played each other in three of the last four Olympic gold medal matches, with the USA prevailing in Tokyo, and the South Americans taking consecutive titles in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.The USA also reached the semi-finals of the Rio Games in 2016, where they won bronze, making today's qualification their fourth consecutive and overall eighth appearance in an Olympic semi-final. The victory brought the Americans 13.63 points for the FIVB world ranking, which was enough for them to climb two positions, moving from sixth to fourth place with a total of 361.09 points. In this way, the USA overtook Poland, who became fourth with 349.75 points, and China, who are fifth with 350.30.
Brazil qualified for the semifinals with an express victory over the Dominican Republic
Silver medalists from Tokyo, Brazil, are confidently moving forward and will compete for medals in Paris after an express 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-17) victory over the Dominican Republic. The best women's national volleyball team in the preliminary phase of the Paris 2024 Games is Brazil. With this victory, Brazil, the best national team in the preliminary phase of the Paris Games, registered their second consecutive semifinal appearance at the Games, after winning a silver medal in Tokyo three years ago. Before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Rio 2016 Games, the South Americans had recorded six consecutive semifinal appearances. The opponents of 'Selecao' will be determined by the quarterfinal match between USA and Poland.
Hungarian international strengthens the ranks of "Lokomotiv Avia"
25-year-old Kristof Horvath is the new addition to the "Lokomotiv Avia" squad. The Hungarian plays as an outside hitter and is a regular starter for his national team. He last wore the jersey of the Austrian club "Zadruga Aich/Dob". In his homeland, he played for "Kecskeméti" and "Fino Kaposvár", after which he continued his career in France - first with "Saint Nazaire", where after a strong season he was noticed by the elite "Nantes" and played there in the 2022/23 season, finishing in 2nd place. The other new outside hitter is the experienced Todor Valchev, who played for CSKA last season.