Radio Bulgaria

FC Ludogorets from Razgrad, Northeastern Bulgaria, has won both the title and the Bulgaria Cup in football in the country’s A League. This happened after a dramatic match versus FC CSKA of Sofia. CSKA was leading the rankings with two points but the match in question was decisive for the title. With a goal scored by Miroslav Ivanov in the first halftime (18th min.), Ludogorets took a final lead over CSKA. In the 44th minute Angel Granchov from was shown a red card and the CSKA team remained with 10 players in the pitch. In the 58th minute a red card against Svetoslav Dyakov of Ludogorets left the team with 10 players too. Finally, Ludogorets won both the close match and the title to the joy of its fans.

The Bulgarian national football side beat Holland 2:1 in a friendl played before some 50,000 spectators in Amsterdam. Van Persie opened the score at the end of the first halftime, however in the 49th minute Ivelin Popov scored an equalizer from a penalty. The Bulgarians continued to play quite well and Ilian Mitsanski scored for the victory in the 93rd minute.

The team of Lukoil Akademic won a 10th consecutive title in men’s basketball. In the third match from the final series Lukoil prevailed over Levski.

Martin Zhelev has set a new national record in the 200 m breaststroke at the European Swimming Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. He clocked 2:01.95 minutes and broke the 20-year old record of Georgi Mihalev. With his result Zhelev covered the B standard for the London Olympics.

The Bulgarian national side in volleyball was successful in Group D of the World Volleyball League by beating the strong team of Germany 3:1 in Frankfurt. Thus the Bulgarians took their revenge for the loss from Germany two weeks ago in Sofia that prevented the national side from getting a London Olympics visa. Now the Bulgarians will have a last chance to qualify for London in the qualification due in Sofia from 8 to 10 June where our rivals will be Egypt, Pakistan and France.

Written by Alexander Markov
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova