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Bulgaria opened their campaign at the men’s European Olympic qualifier in Berlin with a spectacular 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-8) victory over France in the first five-setter of the tournament. With Jean Patry serving, France scored seven in a row to recover from an early 4-1 Bulgarian lead and go 8-4 ahead. However, led by the fantastic performance of their captain Viktor Yosifov (three aces, 100% in attack), the Lions not only caught up, but took the lead, and opposite Tsvetan Sokolov finished it off at 25-23. The second set was all about France. With middle blocker Barthelemy Chinenyeze setting the example in attack, they dominated throughout the set on the way to a convincing 25-17 win. Two youngsters who subbed into the Bulgarian squad took charge in the third set. Outside Martin Atanasov was on fire both at the net and from the serving line, while middle Alex Grozdanov was impeccable in offence. He nailed the last point for 25-22 Bulgaria’s way. Earvin Ngapeth made a solid contribution to France’s attack in the fourth set, but it was Chinenyeze’s blocking that made the biggest difference. The 21-year-old middle delivered four stuffs, including the two in a row that finished the set at 25-19. There was no stopping Bulgaria in the tiebreak. Sokolov proved a true leader and hammered five points, two of them from the serving line, towards the emphatic 15-8 closing. With a total of 23 points to his name, he topped the charts of the match, followed by Jean Patry with 20.