Football: 2 Bulgarian teams progress to group stage of UEFA Europa League
The football clubs of Levski of Sofia and CSKA of Sofia qualified for the group stage of UEFA Europa League. Levski of Sofia beat another Swedish rival, this time AEK of Stockholm. After the nil draw in the first match, in the second game the Bulgarian team let the Vikings score, but in the first minutes of the second half Dannie Mladenov and Gara Dembele scored one goal each forming the final victory by 2:1. CSKA of Sofia faced the Wales’ champion TNS (“The New Saints”). In the first match at home the Bulgarian team ended in a comfortable advance 3:0. However, the second match ended in a 2:2 draw and thus, CSKA of Sofia made it to the next round. The third Bulgarian team Litex of Lovech suffered two losses by Hungary’s Debrecen. According to the lots drawn for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, Levski of Sofia is in the same group with Sporting of Lisbon (Portugal), Lille (France) and Gent (Belgium). CSKA of Sofia will be facing Porto (Portugal), Beşiktaş (Turkey) and Rapid (Vienna).
Football: Standings after fifth round of domestic premiership
Chernomorets FC of Burgas topped the current standing after beating Cherno more of Varna 1:0 in an away match. Lokomotiv of Sofia climbed to the second position after a 3:0 win over Beroe of Stara Zagora and the former champion Litex of Lovech is third following a victory over Akademik of Sofia by 2:0. Slavia beat Lokomotiv of Plovdiv 2:1, and CSKA won over Sliven 3:1.
Tennis: Grigor Dimitrov wins first Challenger title
Bulgaria’s best male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov won the Geneva Challenger tournament beating Spain’s Pablo Andujar 2:1 (6:2, 3:6, 6:4). This is his fourth title this year after the victories in Trier, Dortmund and Irún. Dimitrov has climbed to the Top 200 of the ATP list and currently stands at 184th place.
Athletics: Bulgaria wins bronze at 2010 Youth Olympics
Bulgaria’s Georgi Tsonov won the bronze medal in the boys’ triple jump event at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games taking place at Bishan Stadium in Singapore. His best attempt measured 15.80 m. The gold went to Radame Fabar Sanchez of Cuba, and first runner-up is Fu Haitau of China. This has been Bulgaria’s third medal at the Inaugural Youth Olympics.
Rhythmic Gymnastics: Bulgaria wins bronze at World Cup in Pesaro, Italy
Bulgaria’s rhythmic gymnastics ensemble won the bronze in the 5 hoops event. However, due to rude mistakes in the qualification in the 2 ropes 3 ribbons’ event they failed to compete in the final. Both events were won by the host nation, Italy.
Volleyball: Bulgaria pulls victory at European Youth Championships kickoff
In the first match the Bulgarian youth volleyball team beat the host nation 3:1 at the start of the European Youth Championships in Belarus, and in the second match they triumphed over Italy in straight sets. Thus, Bulgaria is currently on top of her group with a full score of 6 points.
English version by Radostin Zhelev
