Comment by Jacqueline Mihaylov, "Tema Sport":
As often happens to us Bulgarians, we spoiled the good first impression. The women's national volleyball team had a great tournament in Canada for the League of Nations, winning two and losing two. Naturally, the victory over the world champions from Serbia attracted special attention, because our girls really deserved to be honored for their wonderful performance. In general, in the first four matches, Bulgaria was a different team compared to the familiar impressions from previous years. And the icing on the cake were the returning Elitsa Vasileva-Atanasievich, Nasya Dimitrova and Hristina Vuchkova, who really transformed their teammates around them.
And the second part of the four-match tour, which is now taking place in Hong Kong, was eagerly awaited. Expectations were perhaps unreasonably high, but things went well there too, with two decent performances against the very strong Italy and China. The match with the Asians in particular can even be considered excellent, because it was decided by a tiebreak 14:16.
And the whole house of cards collapsed to the ground in the match with the debutants in the tournament - the Czech Republic. The outrageous, and in the third game, shameful behavior of our national team. The loss in itself is not a cause for tragedy, but the game was very disturbing. The moral stability also raises reasonable concerns that this team is very far from perfection. And the culprits are the same ones we praised them to the skies after the matches in Canada and with China. Such amplitudes, especially with experienced players, are even inexplicable. In the third game against the Czech Republic, Nasya, Elitsa and Hristina, who have experienced everything in volleyball, were like beginners who had just entered the hall because of their tall stature. The Czechs, who are nothing special, humiliated us with only 25:11, and they could have left us with a single digit. Their Greek coach taught an open lesson on how to play wisely and correctly, taking into account the qualities of his players.
It is easiest to accept the loss to the Czech Republic and especially the game in the third game as a result of chance. But some of Antonina Zetova's decisions were not accidental. Why, with more than 10 points difference to the opponent, she let the starting lineup continue to expose itself is a question with a very difficult answer. For anyone who watched the match, it was clear that the girls were mentally broken and it was better to sit on the bench. And what is Zetova's logic in general with the rotation of her main experienced players? On what principle does she let them on the court or let them rest? The effect, as you can see, is not good, and it is a complete mystery with what lineup we will start against Thailand on Sunday. It is clear, however, that if we lose the fourth game in Hong Kong ingloriously, the tone will drop below freezing. And then all the happiness from the “huge” positive change, which melted away like last year's snow, would have been in vain.