Turkey – Bulgaria
A very aggressive Bulgaria started putting the pressure on the Turkish receivers. Right from the beginning the gap was getting bigger in favor of the young Bulgarian side, and Turkey could not find any solution. At the second technical time-out Bulgaria had a five-point lead and it only got bigger by the end of the set. During the last rally Kusay Kaan Güleç of Turkey injured his left ankle and was out for the rest of the match.
This unfortunate accident did not affect Turkish players. To the contrary, they started the second set eager to compete. After the initial stage when both teams were scoring an even amount of points, Turkey made a move and created a five-point lead at 14-9. It strengthened the block, and that was maybe the key factor for this sudden getaway. However, after the second technical break (16-13 to Turkey), Bulgaria slowly but surely started to narrow the gap. The score was leveled at 19-19, and the teams entered an exciting final stage of the set. Unfortunately, at that precise moment Bulgarian setter Vladimir Stankov also got injured and had to leave the court. Both sides gave their maximum trying not to lose a single ball, but ultimately Turkey was a bit more focused and wrapped it up at 25-22, leveling the score in sets (1:1).
The plot remained more or less the same in the third set. Basically, it was like “copying and pasting” the second set all the way through the second technical break. Once again Turkey escaped to a 14-9 lead, but this time Bulgaria could not quite recover as the Turkish players did not allow their opponents to come any closer and pose a real threat to their advantage. In the end, it was an easy 25-20 to Turkey and 2:1 in sets.
Like in the previous two sets, the beginning of the fourth set was calm as well. Things continued to develop pretty much in the same way, only this time the roles switched, and Bulgaria was the side that made the first move creating a gap and leading by 16-13 at the second technical time-out. Until the end of the set Turkey was pushing hard but could never quite reach Bulgarians who managed to tie the score at 2:2 in sets edging their rivals 25-23.
In the fifth set Turkey was determined not to let this one slip away. With a firm defense and efficient attack they broke the resilient Bulgarian team that obviously lost too much fuel in the previous four sets. When the teams changed sides at 8-4 to Turkey, it was clear that coach Hidayetoğlu’s players would score the victory here.
Ali Kazım Hidayetoğlu, head coach of Turkey: “We had a very difficult match with Russia yesterday. Today we started slowly. One of our players got injured. We had to change something, and that resulted in a victory today. For that I am extremely happy.“
Ivan Halachev, head coach of Bulgaria: “I still believe that both teams are equal. The fifth set was a gamble for both sides and unfortunately we lost. In addition, our setter got injured in the second set and with him on court I am sure that we could have won.“
Yiğit Gülmezoğlu, captain of Turkey: “Today we played much better, but still I am not entirely satisfied. We are improving and this is the most important thing.“
Mihail Tsvetanov, captain of Bulgaria: “We lost because the players did not perform well today. The first set, though, was a sign of our actual strength, and it is a pity we did not continue in the same way.“
Turkey vs. Bulgaria 3:2 (18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 15-6)
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