Olympic volleyball: Russia defeat Bulgaria to reach final

London: Russia ousted Bulgaria in a four-set Olympic men`s volleyball semi-final Friday.

Bulgaria fought back in the third game after going two games down before a tense fourth game, in which the teams were neck-and-neck before Russia stole win at the end. The final score was 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23. Russian attacker Maxim Mikhailov was the man-of-the-match scoring 25 points and scoring the match point with a powerful spike. In Sunday`s final, Russia will play either Brazil or Italy, who beat reigning champions the United States in the quarter-finals. Russia, who won bronze in Beijing, lost 3-0 to Brazil in the group stage. IANS