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After a four-year absence from the World League Bulgaria returned in 2003 with astonishing power and precision to claim second place in Pool C and march right into the World League Finals. Naturally strong and tall Bulgaria proved that they have the talent and game plan, which will threaten the international Volleyball big boys for years to come, as they knocked over some big names on their way to just missing Coach Milorad Kijac out on a semifinal place on Set Ratio. However, looking at the opening stanza of their campaign, one would not have realised what was in store. Two losses – including an opening round defeat to Cuba – in their first three games and Bulgaria was doing it tough on their return to the premier men’s annual competition. But a re- markable run of seven wins from eight games, including three over Olympic Champions Serbia and Montenegro and Bulgaria sailed through to the top of Pool C and claimed their ticket to Madrid. Their impressive run continued, to an extent. Drawn in the most formidable of pools, Bulgaria went down to both Brazil and before claiming the scalp of old foes Russia, which eliminated the defending champions from the competition. Following that litmus test Bulgaria have laid their cards on the table illustrating that they are a side who will continue to threaten the pace setters, especially with such tall timber as 210 cm-tall Evgeni Ivanov in their ranks. As their star setter and captain Nikolay Ivanov said after the tourna- ment: “We have shown we can play good Volleyball with the best teams in the world.”

Bulgarian captain and setter Nikolay Ivanov

Bulgaria were formidable on defense

Plamen Konstantinov was one of Bul- 62 World League 2003 Final Report garia’s best attacking weapons Host TV

Bulgarian block at its best

TEAM NUMBERS PLAYERS Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block CAPS Club No. Last/First/Shirt name OG WC Oth. Total 1 Ivanov / Evgeni / Ivanov 03/06/1974 210 98 351 340 4 10 134 148 Slavia 938,400 US$ 2 Tsvetanov / Hristo / Tsvetanov 29/03/1978 198 85 345 330 0 4 73 77 Levski Siconco 3 Valov / Georgi / Valov 06/05/1979 199 92 350 335 0 0 35 35 CSKA Royal Foods 15 matches played: 4 Tassev / Ivan / Tassev 21/03/1967 190 80 330 320 0 0 9 9 Marek Union Ivkoni, Dupnica 9 won 5 Lazarov / Georgi / Lazarov 12/08/1975 205 97 358 336 0 0 23 23 Levski Siconco and 6 lost 6 Kaziyski / Matey / Kaziyski 23/09/1984 202 93 360 335 0 0 7 7 Slavia Bulgaria sets played: 7 Peev / Daniel / Peev 11/05/1970 192 88 325 310 0 0 43 43 Levski Siconco 64 8 Mihaylov / Danail / Mihaylov 01/07/1974 197 87 338 325 0 0 36 36 Levski Siconco 36 won 9 Naydenov / Nikolay / Naydenov 22/04/1974 200 90 338 320 0 0 37 37 Odincovo and 28 lost 10 Mlyakov / Smilen / Mlyakov 17/06/1981 200 98 347 335 0 0 15 15 CSKA Royal Cake 1,447 minutes of play: 11 Nikolov / Vladimir / Nikolov 03/10/1977 200 95 345 325 0 0 47 47 Levski Siconco 24 hours 7 min. 12 Ivanov / Nikolay / Ivanov 14/06/1972 192 93 329 323 6 15 180 201 Arcelik (average: 1 h 36) 13 Salparov / Teodor / Salparov 16/08/1982 185 73 320 305 0 0 10 10 CSKA Royal Cake 14 Hristov / Tsvetan / Hristo 24/06/1980 201 95 345 330 0 0 8 8 CSKA Royal Cake 33,405 spectators home 15 Yordanov / Boyan / Yordanov 12/03/1983 197 86 358 335 0 0 0 0 Levski Siconco (average: 5,568) 16 Milushev / Danail / Milushev 03/02/1984 200 93 358 335 0 0 0 0 Cherno more BASK 17 Konstantinov / Plamen / Konstantinov 14/06/1973 202 93 347 330 5 8 191 204 Iraklis 15 players used 18 Samunev / Stoyan / Samunev 15/04/1983 202 95 349 338 0 0 0 0 Lokomotiv

World League 2003 Final Report 63 5th Spain Super spirit...

The hosts of the 2003 World League Finals continued the excellent progress they made with their youth- ful team in 2002 by repeating their fifth place finish. But ultimately it was the unconvincing and inconsistent Pool play which will concern Spain’s Volleyball aficionados for the rest of the season as they struggled for any domination before finishing third in Pool A behind Russia and . They started well with two wins over Coach Francisco M. Hervas the Poles but then lost four on the trot, home and away to defending World League titleholders Russia. The remainder of the Intercontinental Round cam- paign was a mixed bag of success in Poland and failure in Venezuela. Despite their third place finish, Spain, as hosts of the 2003 World League Finals, had an automatic ticket, where they turned up the heat on their play for their home crowd and played with fantastic spirit and diversity before being des- perately unlucky to miss out on the semifinals. After opening Pool E with a stunning victory over Greece, the “La Furia“ lost to Serbia and Montenegro before going down to the Czech Republic. The fans played their part but Spain missed their great opportunity to progress to the semifinals by losing to the World League debutants in four sets but they will take plenty from their performance and talent such as cap- tain Rafael Pascual, Juanjo Slavador and Enrique De la Fuente will ensure that the Spanish spirit stays alive.

Libero Manuel Berenguel receives

Juan Jose Salvador is one of Spain’s star players

Cosme Prenafeta informs the server

64 World League 2003 Final Report Host TV

Guillermo Falasca serves

TEAM NUMBERS PLAYERS Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block CAPS Club No. Last/First/Shirt name OG WC Oth. Total 1 Pascual / Rafael / Pascual 16/03/1970 194 96 355 329 13 16 419 448 Peruggia, ITA 880,400 US$ 2 Saucedo / Gustavo / Saucedo 05/01/1978 199 91 346 325 0 6 78 84 Nice Volleyball, FRA 3 Antequera / Rubén / Antequera 09/03/1981 203 95 340 320 0 0 10 10 Par-ky Menem, BEL Spain 15 matches played: 4 Flores / Alfonso / Flores 24/08/1975 190 90 340 330 0 0 148 148 Numancia Caja Duero 6 won 5 Suela / Luis Pedro / Suela 07/07/1976 193 90 343 320 5 6 112 123 Unicaja Almería and 9 lost 6 Vega / Juan Carlos / Vega 15/09/1975 192 92 341 317 0 16 182 198 C.V. Festival Park sets played: 7 Gens / Jordi / Gens 21/07/1978 185 86 342 325 0 0 45 45 Nice Volleyball 66 8 Sánchez Mordós / David / Sánchez 20/07/1973 195 90 320 303 0 0 8 8 C.V. PTV Málaga, Málaga 28 won 9 Valido / Alexis / Valido 09/03/1976 186 88 325 312 6 6 111 123 VB Friedrichschafen, GER and 38 lost 10 Prenafeta / Cosme / Prenafeta 09/12/1971 186 74 325 316 5 16 153 174 Unicaja Almería 1,661 minutes of play: 11 Carreno / Carlos Luis / Carreno 19/04/1973 198 82 345 321 5 16 288 309 Unicaja Almería 27 hours 41 min. 12 Falasca / Guillermo / G. Falasca 24/10/1977 200 106 340 325 0 16 141 157 Roeselare , BEL (average: 1 h 51) 13 Casilla / Jose Antonio / Casilla 29/08/1979 199 88 345 315 5 0 93 98 Unicaja Almería 14 Molto / Jose Luis / Molto 29/06/1975 206 94 352 329 5 16 221 242 Roeselare, BEL 13,760 spectators home 15 Sevillano / Manuel / Sevillano 02/07/1981 194 88 342 319 0 0 21 21 Numancia Caja Duero, Soria (average: 2,293) 16 Salvador / Juan Jose / Salvador 18/12/1975 200 95 352 329 5 6 253 264 Unicaja Almería 17 De La Fuente / Enrique / De La Fuente 11/08/1975 194 92 348 328 5 16 260 281 Piacenza, ITA 16 players used 18 Berenguel / Manuel / Berenguel 26/06/1970 187 85 322 296 0 0 9 9 Unicaja Almería

World League 2003 Final Report 65 7th Greece Great result...

After two years of nearly break- ing through to the World League Finals, 2003 brought a reward for all the hard work and effort Greece has put in over the past four years when they qualified for Madrid as the third-best sec- ond placed team. For the Stelios Prosalikas coached side it bodes well for the Athens Olympics next year. They earlier indicated their intentions of having that as the main goal and the fashion in which Greece qualified was exciting to say the least. Three wins from three and Greece were Pool D leaders but then Prosalikas’ side could only register one win in four games, including two at home. With World League debutants the Czech Republic knocking over everyone in their way, it was up to the Greeks to race for second place. It came down to the final weekend and a rare victory in the Czech Republic gave Greece the coveted spot ahead of the World Championship bronze medallists by one point, also qualifying ahead of Poland as the third-best runner up. However once in the World League Finals, Greece, despite their enthusiasm and moments of top brass Volleyball, were outclassed, losing all three matches to hosts Spain, the Czech Republic and Serbia and Montenegro. They will be wiser for the experience. Defi- nitely one of the success stories of the World League, Greece will take this moment as a great leverage to bigger and better things when the Olympic Games comes knocking on their front door.

InspirationalCaption for the Greek picture captain on 2 lines Marios for Gkiourdassmall comment Zlatko Baev piercing the French 66 World League 2003 Final Report defense Host TV

Nikolaos Roumeliotis was an exceptional scorer for Greece

Theodoros Chatziantoniou spikes another point

TEAM NUMBERS PLAYERS Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block CAPS Club No. Last/First/Shirt name OG WC Oth. Total 1 Kravarik / Andrej / Kravarik 28/07/1971 204 97 360 350 0 0 0 0 GS Iraklis, Thessaloniki 868,200 US$ 2 Gkiourdas / Marios / Gkiourdas 02/03/1973 202 90 356 341 0 26 228 254 Olympiakos, Piraeus 3 Chatziantoniou / Theodoros / Chatziantoniou 16/03/1974 204 95 360 350 0 26 225 251 Panathinaikos , Athens 15 matches played: 4 Kyriazis / Chrysanthos / Kyriazis 21/04/1972 195 84 338 322 0 8 89 97 Olympiakos, Piraeus Greece 7 won 5 Bozidis / Theodoros / Bozidis 08/04/1973 195 93 330 325 0 13 100 113 GS Iraklis, Thessaloniki and 8 lost 6 Kournetas / Vasileios / Kournetas 02/08/1976 191 82 336 320 0 18 140 158 Olympiakos, Piraeus 61 sets played: 7 Stefanou / Georgios / Stefanou 12/01/1981 187 82 295 305 0 0 26 26 AE Nikea, Nikea 27 won 8 Ntonas / Efstathios / Ntonas 02/02/1981 200 96 330 330 0 0 11 11 Panathinaikos, Athens 9 Dimitrakopoulos / Christos / Dimitrakopoulos 01/07/1974 188 86 325 325 0 9 53 62 Panathinaikos, Athens and 34 lost 10 Tsakiropoulos / Antonios / Tsakiropoulos 01/07/1969 205 93 350 336 0 26 294 320 Olympiakos, Piraeus 1,483 minutes of play: 11 Roumeliotis / Nikolaos / Roumeliotis 12/10/1978 201 97 343 320 0 9 79 88 E.A. Patron, Patra 24 hours 43 min. 12 Ntrakovits / Georgios / Ntrakovits 20/10/1968 200 103 345 330 0 14 319 333 A.E. Nikea, Nikea (average: 1 h 39) 13 Smaragdis / Nikolaos / Smaragdis 12/02/1982 202 85 328 318 0 0 27 27 P.A.O.K., Thessaloniki 14 Pantaleon / Sotirios / Pantaleon 21/06/1980 200 77 330 312 0 9 61 70 Panathinaikos, Athens 17,790 spectators home 15 Lappas / Ilias / Lappas 20/07/1979 194 92 335 320 0 8 58 66 AS Aris, Thessaloniki (average: 2,935) 16 Karipidis / Theoklitos / Karipidis 18/01/1980 202 94 336 317 0 0 21 21 GS Iraklis, Thessaloniki 17 Prousalis / Konstantinos / Prousalis 06/10/1980 192 83 320 295 0 0 7 7 P.A.O.K. , Thessaloniki 15 players used 18 Baev / Tontor-Zlatko / Baev 31/05/1977 200 95 340 333 0 9 93 102 GS Iraklis, Thessaloniki

World League 2003 Final Report 67 7th Russia Shock ranking...

The 2003 World League saw the Rus- sian juggernaut come to a shuddering halt during the Finals Round seem- ingly running out of gas right at the business end of the tournament. The 2002 World League title holders and No 1 team on the FIVB world rank- ings heading into the event stormed through pool play with the likes of the charismatic Pavel Abramov, the towering Sergey Baranov and captain Vadim Khamouttskikh pull- ing the strings. They led Russia to nine successive wins in Pool A and looked handsome favorites to defend their title. But things changed dramatically when the Russian superpowers arrived in Madrid. Faced with a tough pool, the defending champs man- aged to get past Italy but then came unstuck against the eventual winners Brazil before going down in four sets to Bulgaria to spoil their chances of qualifying for the semifinals. Despite having already made major renova- tions to his squad last year with the 2004 Olympics in mind, Russian coach Guennadi Ghipouline said that more changes will be made again ahead of the European Championship later in the year. It was a big fall from grace for Russia, who also lost their No 1 spot on the FIVB world rankings but there’s no doubting that this performance was just a blip and it won’t be long before Russia returns to prominence.

Alexei Koulechov on attack

Key player and captain Vadim 68 World League 2003 Final Report Khamouttskikh Semen Poltavsky on defence Host TV Russia

Pavel Abramov is one of the more experienced players

TEAM NUMBERS PLAYERS Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block CAPS Club No. Last/First/Shirt name OG WC Oth. Total 1 Tereshin / Maxim / Tereshin 05/08/1979 200 93 353 340 0 0 70 70 Dynamo, Moscow 891,600 US$ 2 Kozlov / Arkadi / Kozlov 30/01/1981 206 100 352 341 0 0 40 40 Lokomotiv, Belgorod 3 Poltavsky / Semen / Poltavsky 08/02/1981 202 80 346 340 0 0 40 40 Pallavolo Montichiari, ITA 15 matches played:

4 Baranov / Sergey / Baranov 10/08/1981 208 94 355 343 0 0 47 47 Lokomotiv, Belgorod Russia 11 won 5 Abramov / Pavel / Abramov 23/04/1979 198 89 347 336 0 9 94 103 Dynamo, Moscow and 4 lost 6 Komarov / Valery / Komarov 21/03/1980 198 85 311 306 0 0 27 27 Iskra, Odintsovo sets played: 7 Kazakov / Alexei / Kazakov 18/03/1976 217 103 355 342 11 15 183 209 Trentino, ITA 57 8 Tetioukhine / Serguei / Tetioukhine 23/09/1975 197 89 349 338 13 24 195 232 Lokomotiv, Belgorod 36 won 9 Khamouttskikh / Vadim / Khamouttskikh 26/11/1969 196 85 342 331 19 24 153 196 Lokomotiv, Belgorod and 21 lost 10 Iakovlev / Roman / Iakovlev 13/08/1976 201 92 352 341 8 21 136 165 Daytona, ITA 1,344 minutes of play: 11 Ushakov / Konstantin / Ushakov 24/03/1970 198 77 343 332 22 31 344 397 SSK, TUR 22 hours 24 min. 12 Khtei / Taras / Khtei 22/05/1982 205 82 345 335 0 9 71 80 MGTU Luzhniki, Moscow (average: 1 h 30) 13 Egortchev / Andrei / Egortchev 08/02/1978 205 80 343 330 0 9 86 95 Lokomotiv, Belgorod 14 Kossarev / Alexandre / Kossarev 30/09/1977 202 92 352 343 0 0 57 57 Lokomotiv, Belgorod 20,389 spectators home 15 Guerassimov / Alexandre / Guerassimov 22/01/1975 201 92 352 341 8 17 129 154 Perugio Volley, ITA (average: 3,398) 16 Sokolov / Alexander / Sokolov 01/03/1982 193 80 315 310 0 0 42 42 Neftianik, Yaroslavl 17 Arkhipov / Roman / Arkhipov 08/11/1980 191 83 355 320 0 0 71 71 Iskra, Odintsovo 15 players used 18 Koulechov / Alexei / Koulechov 24/02/1979 206 92 353 340 8 9 119 136 Lokomotiv, Belgorod

World League 2003 Final Report 69 9th Poland So close...

Looking at the final World League standings ninth place hardly reflects the awesome per- formance from Poland, who were so competitive during the In- tercontinental Rounds and only missed out on a spot in the World League Finals by one point. The Poles were out to improve upon last year’s fifth placing, their best ever finish in the World League, but got off to the worst of starts in the Intercontinental Coach Waldemar Wspanialy Rounds. First weekend up and two defeats at the hands of Spain in Valencia and Castello. Off to Venezuela and Poland righted the ship with a double success but the return fixtures saw the matches shared and left Poland licking their wounds. However, despite being plagued by a touch of inconsistency Poland managed to claim the scalp of Russia twice, once each at home and away, nearing the end of the Intercontinental Rounds and fin- ished second in Pool A with six wins and six defeats. With Spain, as Finals hosts, an automatic qualifier, Poland’s sluggish start meant they had to battle it out with the best second-placed teams in the other three pools. That incon- sistent start came back to haunt them, as they missed out on the Finals by one point to Greece. Disappointing finish but Poland will be much stronger for it in future.

Arkadiusz Golas slams home for Poland

Marcin Nowak was one of Poland’s best scorers

Przemyslaw Michalzcyk tries to beat 70 World League 2003 Final Report the Spanish defence Host TV

Poland’s defense was impressive

TEAM NUMBERS PLAYERS Birthdate Height Weight Spike Block CAPS Club No. Last/First/Shirt name OG WC Oth. Total 1 Stelmach / Andrzej / Stelmach 15/08/1972 200 98 330 320 5 3 164 172 AZS Galaxia, Czestochowa 819,400 US$ 2 Siezieniewski / Pawel / Siezieniewski 27/12/1981 198 79 346 326 0 0 16 16 PZU-AZS, Olsztyn 3 Gruszka / Piotr / Gruszka 08/03/1977 206 98 350 325 5 9 122 136 Adria Volley, Trieste ITA 12 matches played: 4 Nowak / Marcin / Nowak 17/10/1975 215 105 351 335 5 9 113 127 KP Polska En.,Sosnowiec Poland 6 won 5 Zagumny / Pawel / Zagumny 18/10/1977 200 92 336 317 5 3 108 116 Edilbasso, Padova ITA and 6 lost 6 Murek / Dawid / Murek 24/07/1977 196 92 341 325 0 9 111 120 Panathinaikos, Athens GRE sets played: 7 Zygadlo / Lukasz / Zygadlo 02/08/1979 200 85 330 315 0 0 25 25 SKRA Belchatow, Belchatow 45 8 Ignaczak / Krzysztof / Ignaczak 15/05/1978 188 86 330 315 0 6 54 60 AZS Galaxia, Czestochowa 24 won 9 Jurkiewicz / Wojciech / Jurkiewicz 21/06/1977 205 95 350 330 0 0 1 1 Morze, Szczecin and 21 lost 10 Prygiel / Robert / Prygiel 17/04/1976 200 102 342 318 0 6 34 40 SKRA, Belchatow 1,126 minutes of play: 11 Michalczyk / Przemyslaw / Michalczyk 19/01/1973 191 90 345 325 0 0 37 37 KS Jastrzebie Borynia 17 hours 7 min. 12 Kadziewicz / Lukasz / Kadziewicz 20/09/1980 206 84 348 323 0 0 30 30 PZU-AZS, Olsztyn (average: 1 h 34) 13 Swiderski / Sebastian / Swiderski 26/06/1977 193 88 354 325 0 9 102 111 Mostostal, Kedzierzyn-K. 14 Rybak / Radoslaw / Rybak 25/03/1973 195 89 356 330 0 0 12 12 Morze , Szczecin 56,658 spectators home 15 Lipinski / Piotr / Lipinski 04/01/1979 195 92 330 315 0 6 34 40 Mostostal, Kedzierzyn-K. (average: 9,443) 16 Golas / Arkadiusz / Golas 10/05/1981 201 82 360 340 0 6 22 28 Galaxia, Czestochowa 17 Bakiewicz / Michal / Bakiewicz 22/03/1981 196 79 338 324 0 14 19 33 Galaxia, Czestochowa 15 players used 18 Szczerbaniuk / Robert / Szczerbaniuk 29/05/1977 199 94 340 322 0 0 20 20 Mostostal, Kedzierzyn-K.

World League 2003 Final Report 71