Bulgarian Sami-M Superliga 2015-2016

  • Playout:


    Gorna Malina (neutral venue)


    Levski Ball (9th in the Superliga) - Slavia (2nd in the Vissha Liga, second division) 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-22)


    Levski Ball will keep their place in the Superliga. The winner of the second division, Cherno more Varna, got promotion. As long as they maintain the current format with 10 teams, Minyor Pernik should be relegated.

  • Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Cup is starting to resemble the Emir's Cup in Qatar. National team players are going to return to Bulgaria and join some of the finalists. This year the names/clubs are:


    Nikolay Uchikov, Nikolay Nikolov and Teodor Salparov will play for Neftochimik 2010.


    Miroslav Gradinarov and Svetoslav Gotsev will reinforce Dobrudzha 07.


    Todor Aleksiev and Teodor Todorov will join Montana.


    Todor Skrimov is going to play for Minyor Pernik.


    Even Tsvetan Sokolov is rumoured to have agreed to join Marek.


    In this case Sokolov, Nikolay Nikolov, Teodor Todorov and Skrimov will return to their first clubs - where they started their careers as professional players.


    If you find the tournament interesting, I might upload the program and results. The tournament starts on Monday.

  • Finally the update from the Cup finals. Better late than never.


    Zhani Zhelyazkov (Minyor) and Zlatan Yordanov and Todor Valchev (Marek) were confirmed as new players for the final tournament since writing my transfers post on 21. April. As you can see, most teams got some serious reinforcement (apart from Arda and it became obvious) which ended up in a very nice tournament and even the critics enjoyed the demonstrated level. Players returning from abroad all hailed Dobrudzha's improvement as the new champions are a team that contains a lot of youngsters.


    Opinions later, now the formula. Two groups of three teams each playing in two different cities. Dupnitsa (Marek) and Burgas (Neftochimik) hosted these two pools, the finals were held in Burgas.

  • Group A (Burgas)


    Dobrudzha 07 - Neftochimik 2010 0-3 (20-25, 22-25, 29-31) stats
    Minyor - Dobrudzha 07 0-3 (17-25, 20-25, 21-25) stats
    Neftochimik 2010 - Minyor 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-6) stats


    Group B (Dupnitsa)


    Arda - Montana 1-3 (27-25, 18-25, 21-25, 20-25) stats
    Marek Union-Ivkoni - Arda 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21) stats
    Montana - Marek Union-Ivkoni 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-16) stats


    Semifinals (Burgas)


    Montana - Dobrudzha 07 1-3 (21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 18-25) stats
    Neftochimik 2010 - Marek Union-Ivkoni 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 31-33, 23-25, 16-14) stats


    Final


    Dobrudzha 07 - Neftochimik 2010 1-3 (23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 16-25) stats

  • A lot of drama, national team players, national team candidates, and grea volleyball during the finals in Burgas. Although not quite logical with two groups in two different cities (separated by appr. 400 km) and unfair to some local boys who played throughout the season just to sit on the bench now, the Cup finals, for a second year in a row, are turning into a successful event. The sports halls are full, unlike during the regular season, although they were full during the playoffs as well. Which is not of minor importance.


    The semifinal was the turning event. Uchikov vs. Sokolov in a battle between the two best Bulgarian opposites right now (Nikolov has retired, that's why, I am not forgetting him). 31 vs. 37 points respectively guaranteed a great, great match, not only for Bulgarian standards. The head coach of Marek, Nayden Naydenov, you should probably know him already, was furious due to some referee's calls in the tie-break and threatened to take his team out of the field. Plamen Konstantinov intervened immediately, calmed him down and asked him to finish the game for sports' sake. Yes, a typical Balkan picture :) Although Naydenov has been mentioned in the forum several times already, he is notorious with his behaviour, he doesn't make a good impression at all.


    The disappointment was for Montana and Marek. Marek had Sokolov after all and failed to win at home versus Montana. It would've sent them in a semi against Dobrudzha. Marek showed a great spirit against the hosts Neftochimik, though. Probably both teams deserved a place in the final. I am speaking about this reinforced Marek, not the one from the season. The other disappointment was Montana. They did their job in Dupnitsa and yet they failed to take the re-match (lost the championship final series) against Dobrudzha. And Montana had Todor Aleksiev and Teodor Todorov in the roster.


    The team that attracted a lot of attention was Dobrudzha. They really didn't become champions by chance. They recruited Gradinarov and Gotsev but only the latter was needed, Gradinarov came in occasionally. A lot of their players were called up in the NT wide roster. Georgi Manchev, former CSKA setter, has improved a lot and it looks like he is ready for some first-team games with the NT. He has meniscus problems right now, however, so I hope he will take the chance he can while Georgi Bratoev is away for the summer (and maybe longer). Martin Atanasov is another very interesting name to consider. A 20-year-old OH who plays very technical volleyball and very confident for someone his age. Velizar Chernokozhev doesn't need introduction anymore. Miroslav Zhivkov, Dobrudzha's head coach, has done a great job with his team and deserves to lead Bulgaria's B team at the European League. Neftochimik needed the services of Uchikov, Salparov, and Nikolay Nikolov to make sure the cup doesn't leave Burgas, for otherwide Dobrudzha would've probably won it without "foreigners" based on what we saw.