The women's finalists Denitsa/Stefani and Gergana/Sofiya pose with their medals

Ruse, Bulgaria, June 11, 2014 - The 2014 U18 National Beach Volleyball Tour has begun in Bulgaria.  The first tournament for men’s and women’s duos in this age category was held in Ruse, the country’s largest city on the banks of the Danube.

The event was organised with the support of the municipality of Ruse, the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation and VC Ruse Voley. It was held on the sand courts of the Yalta sports complex. A hail storm which hit the northern Bulgarian city interrupted some of the games in the boys’ competition, but the organisation of the tournament ran smoothly.

On the girls’ side, the first winners were Denitsa Petrova/Stefani Kyoseva from VC Perun Varna. The duo who represented Bulgaria in the zonal phase of the CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in 2013, and at both the 2013 CEV U18 and U20 Beach Volleyball European Championships, overcame the resistance of Gergana Lulcheva/Sofiya Angelova from VC Maritza Plovdiv in the final. The girls from Varna managed to shut out their opponents 2-0 (21-17, 21-16). Kameliya Trifonova/Vesela Koleva took the bronze after a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) win over Mihaela Yordanova/Diana Hristova in the match for third place.

Velin Stoyanov/Georgi Botev won the men’s tournament. In the final match, they defeated Mihail Stavrev/Petar Andreev 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) to claim the top spot on the podium. Two pairs from the host city Ruse locked horns in the battle for the third place and the bronze went to Aleks Nikolaev/Iskren Georgiev, who beat Daniel Dahil/Lachezar Angelov 2-0 (21-13, 21-12).

The second tournament of Bulgaria’s U18 National Tour will take place in Bozhurishte, near the capital Sofia, on June 21 and 22.

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