2024-03-08 04:06:51
On March 8, four decades ago, our basketball players won CASH and reserved their place in the history of our greatest sports successes
Today, our sport enjoys every bit thrown by the big powers. Each medal is of great value and is mostly won by our heroes in the individual disciplines. In team sports, the situation is far more tragic, and even participation in the group stages of European club tournaments is considered a success.
It used to not be like that. And precisely because of this, it is imperative that we remember and properly celebrate the triumphs of our football, volleyball and basketball. International Women’s Day is an extremely appropriate date for a big celebration, because on this date 40 years ago, the basketball players of “Levski-Spartak” won the European Champions Cup (ECC). Today, the tournament is called the Euroleague and is absolutely unattainable for both the women’s and men’s teams from the Bulgarian championship. But 4 decades ago, the “blue” girls crushed everything in their path and in an extremely tense final beat the considered invincible Italian girls from “Zolu Vicenza”.
The team from the Apennines appears in the decisive match with the self-confidence of a team that has won the previous two editions of the strongest basketball tournament, and no one is surprised that the experts favor them. Our team is clearly not impressed by these forecasts and by the 16th minute they lead with 36 to 20. But the outcome is yet to come. The Italians rallied and in the next 20 minutes managed to reduce the gap to just one point.
“In the final in Budapest, we started really well, but in the middle of the match the referees started calling us fouls and suddenly it turned out that me and three other girls had to sit on the bench for 5 fouls each. The Italian girls scored a total of 33 points from penalty kicks ! Those who replaced us needed time to get into a rhythm, and for a very short time we succumbed to panic. But towards the end we regained our composure and beat them by 5 points,” he recalled to “24 hours – 168 stories” one of the participants in the epic final Krasimira Banova.
In the happiest moment during the award ceremony, a comical incident is reached, which the main actors tell to this day with a smile on their face. FIBA President Bora Stankovic hands the cup to captain Nadka Golcheva and it literally falls apart in her hands.
The top part separates from the base and the girls have to pick up the pieces from the ground and reassemble them. But this in no way darkens the joy of the golden girls and even brings them good luck. But to explain what exactly it is about, we need a short walk even further back in time. In fact, there is a Bulgarian trace in the creation of the most elite basketball tournament, which today is unattainable for Bulgarian teams. But in the good sense of the word. Naroden Sport newspaper ordered and financed the production of the trophy, which was donated to FIBA and for many years the cup was awarded to the winners. It is made of wood and inlaid with semi-precious stones. The champion is entitled to keep it for one year and then it is awarded to the next winner.
In 1959, the trophy was won by the basketball players of “Slavia”, who were also the first Bulgarian team to win a European club tournament.
And so we return to the happy year for women’s basketball in 1984. After the trophy was dismantled at the award ceremony in Budapest, a new and more modern model was ordered from the newspaper Naroden Sport. The old cup, however, was decided to remain in the possession of “Levski” and was later exhibited in the Sports Museum.
“This is just one of the many unforgettable situations. I also remember that for the final, the bosses arranged for a flight with fans and one parent per girl. So my mother was able to explore Budapest and see my success live. It was a great joy and with our teams. The previous year, it was the sponsor of our rivals from “Zolu Vicenza” who gave us brand new teams with which we played in the Bulgarian championship. However, there is no way we can go to the final and play with equipment given by the opponent. From our management they were afraid that the European women would laugh at the poor Bulgarians. And they decided at the last moment to order new outfits, which the seamstresses from a factory managed to make in three days! We felt very good with them at the end,” Krasimira Banova also recalls. When she and her teammates land at Sofia Airport, they are literally besieged by hundreds of their fans.
“They kept us at the airport for hours. You take one step and you are immediately attacked by several people at once. That’s when I realized how significant something we had done. Then we were also received in the ministry, and 25 years later we were also invited to Paris to get another recognition. All the girls were guests at the EuroLeague final. During one of the breaks in the game we went down to the pitch, they gave us flowers and some presents and the announcer told us what we had achieved. The people cheered for us and I can’t help but think that we felt very pleasant,” Banova recalls. She and the rest of the legendary girls of Bulgarian basketball receive about BGN 270 each for their triumph in the KES tournament, but the money was then pushed by emotions far back in the rankings.
“Before the final, it was said that the sponsor of the Italian women had promised them 8,000 dollars per cap. For us, this was cosmic, unthinkable money. Years later, I thought about what I would choose – the money or the recognition of being a European club champion. I think that the answer is clear! – Krasimira Banova goes back in her memories and adds with a smile. – I also remember that the Ministry of the Interior gave us an electronic watch each. But because the women’s watches were finished, they gave us men’s watches with the stipulation that later we could we change them.”