Theodoros Baev ( bg, Теодорос Баев, el, Θεόδωρος Μπάεφ; born 31 May, 1977) also written as Zlatkov Bayev and Tontor-Zlatko Baev, is a
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
-born
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
retired
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
player.
[Grecia: Cuartos - Partido 1]
, somovoley.com, 09-04-2006, retrieved 2011-04-29
Baev was born in
Nova Zagora
Nova Zagora ( bg, Нова Загора ) is a town located in the southeastern plains of Bulgaria in Sliven Province. It is the administrative centre of Nova Zagora Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 19,562 inhabitan ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. From the beginning of his career in Greek championship as a player of Ethnikos Alexandroupolis (1994–1997), Todor Baev was the focal point of federal coaches' interest.
He first joined the juniors' National Team in 1994 and took 5th place at the European Championship in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. A turning point in his career was the juniors' World Championship of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
in 1995, where the National Team won 5th place and Baev was declared the best attacker of the event.
Before entering the men's National Team he experienced two more great successes. In 1996 at the European Championship in Israel and in 1997 at the World Championship in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, Baev led the juniors' National Team both times to 5th place.
His first formal match as a player of the men's National Team was in 1995 at the European Championship in Athens where he played as a substitute in the game against Latvia (Greece won 3-0 sets). He gained his first points (2 points + 3 side outs) in the match against
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
where Greece was defeated 3-0 sets. He has 93 international participations to his credit (until 2002), while one of his greatest achievements as a player of the National Team was the 7th-place finish at the World Championship in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in 2002. Generally, Argentina is Baev's lucky charm since he showed great performances there; in the World League (1998) the Greek men's National Team achieved two wins 3-2 and 3-1 sets at
Santa Fe and
Rosario
Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
respectively in the presence of 8000 Argentines.
As an international player he has participated once in the World Championship (2002-Argentina: 7th place), once in the European Championship (1995-Athens: 7th place) and three times in the World Leagues (1998: 12th place, 2001: 9th, 2002: 9th).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baev, Theodoros
Greek men's volleyball players
People from Nova Zagora
Living people
1977 births
Volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic volleyball players of Greece
A.C. Orestias players
Greek people of Bulgarian descent
Bulgarian men's volleyball players
Panathinaikos V.C. players
Iraklis V.C. players