There are 4 team left in the battle in Sofia, Bulgaria. Germany, Serbia and Italy join the hosts on Saturday.
Hosts Bulgaria will be challenged by Germany in the semifinals of the European Olympic qualifiers in Sofia on Saturday. The second semi will be a rerun of last year’s European Championship final between Serbia and Italy.
The local heroes, led by Matey Kaziyski, finished their campaign in the preliminaries with a classy 3-0 win over Spain, while Italy did the same to down Slovakia. Serbia edged Slovenia 3-1 to eventually make it to the top four and head to a much awaited clash with the “Azzurri” on Saturday afternoon.
Bulgaria’s third victory at the 2012 Olympic Games-European Qualification for Men put them on top of Pool II with a perfect record. Cheered on by the colourful crowd at Arena Armeec Hall, the Lions defeated Spain 25-16, 25-20, 25-16. Balkan neighbour Serbia stayed in the runners-up position and became the last team to secure a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.
Vlado Nikolov said: “I am glad that we finished the pool with a straight-sets win, which will motivate us even more,” he stated. “We managed to limit our mistakes and played calmer than our opponents. The big difference in today’s match came from our stable blocking and offense. That is why we won relatively easily. I want to thank the terrific Bulgarian fans for their support. It will get harder and harder for us as of tomorrow, so we will need their love more than ever.”
Italy became the third semifinalist after securing the top spot in Pool II. The Italians shut out the ambitious Slovak team 25-23, 25-13, 25-22. With nine points each, Italy’s Luigi Mastrangelo and Alessandro Fei topped the scorers’ chart in the match, while Slovakia’s Emanuel Kohut and Peter Michalovic had eight points apiece.
Cristian Savani said: “We are very happy to win the game and move on to the next round. The victory gives us confidence that we can fulfil our mission to qualify for the Olympics. It will not be easy, but we will do our best.”
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Serbia did what was necessary to stay in contention for the second semifinal spot available from Pool I. Coach Igor Kolakovic’s team overcame Slovenia 22-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-15. Combined with the 3-0 win by Bulgaria over Spain, it allowed the 2011 European champions to make the semis. Serbia’s Aleksandar Atanasijevic was the top scorer of the match with 19 points while Dragan Stankovic chipped in with 17. Slovenia’s most prolific player, Alen Pajenk, matched Stankovic and had five blocking points.