The Sofia Cup returned to its homeland after a 21-year absence, as Bulgaria emerged victorious in the 33rd annual Prize of Sofia basketball tournament staged in the nation's capital last week.

The national team of Bulgaria, playing under the name Sofia, triumphed over Ankara (Turkey) 92-75 in the finals of the three-day tournament. The elusive cup was handed to team captain Spas Natov by Vice-President Todor Kavaldjiev.

For the event, the clubs Radnicki and Darushafaka, were playing under the names of Belgrade and Ankara, respectively. Only the fourth participant in the tournament, Ukraine's Kiev, played with its own name.

In fact, in the long history of the traditional competition, it has always been the practice that under the name of different capital cities, strong club and national teams can be found. In previous editions of the tournament, the leading teams of the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia played with the name of Moscow or Belgrade. At other times, participants were the youth national teams of the corresponding countries.

This year was no different in terms of talent - Darushafaka is currently third in the strong Turkish championship and is a participant in the qualifications in the Euroleague, which is considered the most prestigious club tournament on the continent. Radnicki is invariably in the elite of Yugoslavian basketball, and only the team from Kiev, who are second in the Ukrainian championship, came with their reserve team. The scores themselves speak for the value of the teams - Sofia had the greatest difficulty in defeating Belgrade, by a score of 89-85. After that the Bulgarians destroyed Kiev 99-53 before triumphing over Ankara in the final. In the match for third place, Belgrade beat Kiev by 75-60.

Undoubtedly, Ankara was the most challenging rival for the Sofia team, not only because it managed to beat Belgrade and Kiev, but also because it possessed the tournament's best scorer - Leonid Ialo, who netted 75 points. They also had the best rebounder in Vincent Jones, who picked up 22 rebounds.

Sofia distinguished itself with the most valuable player of the tournament, Lyubomir Minchev, who holds the title best basketball player of Bulgaria for 2000.

Apart from the official side, this year's tournament had a specific practical objective for the Bulgarian team. It needs all the practice it can get for the upcoming preliminary qualifications for the European championship. For this reason, senior coach Petko Marinov let all the players participate in the games by using different tactical options and combinations. Good showings were made by Lyubo Minchev, Yordan Bozov, as well as Todor Stoykov, who plays in Italy, and Ivailo Radutzov, who plays in Portugal.

In the long run, Marinov could not be discontent with the opportunities for testing his squad and the results were positive as three days after the end of the tournament, the Bulgarian national team, composed of the same basketball players, faced its biggest adversary in the preliminary European qualification group - Georgia.

With very strong and versatile play, the Bulgarians achieved victory by a score of 85-66. In the Diana Hall in Yambol, the Bulgarians managed to obtain some revenge against the Georgians after the Bulgarians lost to them by 15 points in Tbilisi.

"I am content with the game," Marinov said. "We showed spirit and will for victory. From a tactical point of view, we made some mistakes, but they will be corrected soon."