Plamen_Konstantinov Knowpia

Plamen Konstantinov
Plamen Konstantinov
Personal information
Full name	Plamen Georgiev Konstantinov
Nickname	Gibona
Nationality	Bulgarian
Born	14 June 1973 (age 50); Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Coaching information
Current team	Lokomotiv Novosibirsk; Bulgaria
Previous teams coached
2010–2011; 2011–2012; 2012–2015; 2014–2018; 2016–; 2022–	Ziraat Bankası Ankara; Gazprom-Ugra Surgut; Guberniya Nizhny Novgorod; Bulgaria; Lokomotiv Novosibirsk; Bulgaria
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter
Career
1986–1991; 1991–1995; 1995–1996; 1996–1997; 1997–1999; 1999–2000; 2000–2001; 2001–2002; 2002–2003; 2003–2004; 2004; 2004–2005; 2005–2006; 2006–2007; 2007–2009	Levski Sofia; Slavia Sofia; AS Capurso Gioia; Aris Thessaloniki; Halkbank Ankara; Athlitikos Orestiadas; P.A.O.K. Thessaloniki; Iraklis Thessaloniki; Olympiacos Piraeus; Panathinaikos Athens; Tours VB; Gabeca Montichiari; Jastrzębski Węgiel; Gazprom-Ugra Surgut; Iraklis Thessaloniki
National team
1995–2009	Bulgaria
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing Bulgaria
FIVB World Championship
FIVB World Cup

Plamen Georgiev Konstantinov (Bulgarian: Пламен Георгиев Константинов) (born 14 June 1973) is a former Bulgarian volleyball player. He is currently the head coach of Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team.

Personal life edit

Konstantinov was born in Sofia; both his parents, Georgi and Eva née Doycheva, are former volleyball internationals and his older brother Julian Konstantinov is an opera singer.^[1] Like his father, he bears the nickname Gibona ("The Gibbon").

Career edit

Konstantinov finished a sports school and started his career with Levski Sofia in 1986, where he remained until 1995; he spent some of the following season with Slavia Sofia and then moved to Italy to play for the Gioia del Colle team. In 1996–97, he was a member of Greek Aris VC and then of Turkish Halkbank Ankara (1997–99). From 1999 until 2004 he played in Greece for Orestiada, PAOK Thessaloniki V.C., Iraklis V.C., Olympiacos S.C. and Panathinaikos VC. In 2004–05, he was with the French Tours VB and then in 2004–05 he represented the Montichiari team. In 2005–06, he played in Poland for Jastrzębski Węgiel and then in 2006–07 he was in Russia with ZSKA Gazprom Surgut. He ended his career in Iraklis, where he played from 2007 to 2009.^[2] With Iraklis Thessaloniki he won the silver medal at the 2008-09 Indesit Champions League and also was individually awarded "Best Receiver".^[3]

Konstantinov's awards and achievements include Bulgarian championship titles with Levski and Slavia, Greek championship titles with Aris, Iraklis, Olympiacos and Panathinaikois and a French championship title with Tours. He has also won the Greek Cup once and the Supercup twice with Iraklis and the Bulgarian Cup twice with Slavia. He has twice been awarded the Greek Championship Volleyball Player of the Year prize. In 2006, he won third-place bronze medals from the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship and the 2007 FIVB Men's World Cup in Japan with the Bulgaria national team.^[2] In 2008, he was voted Bulgaria's Man of the Year in an online poll organized by Darik Radio.^[4]

Coaching career edit

In 2010/11 season, he started his coaching career, as the coach of Ziraatbank of the Turkish Volleyball League. Plamen Konstantinov has been coaching the men's National Team of Bulgaria since 2014, following a stint in Turkey and several seasons at the helm of clubs in Russia - where he continues with Lokomotiv Novosibirsk during the club season.

Awards edit

Individual edit

References edit

^ "Пламен Константинов стана мъж на годината" (in Bulgarian). Топспорт. 2008-11-10. Retrieved 2008-11-15. По-малък брат на известния оперен певец Юлиян Константинов (р. 1966)." ("His older brother is the well-known opera singer Yuliyan Konstantinov (born 1966).
^ ^a ^b "Пламен Константинов стана мъж на годината" (in Bulgarian). Топспорт. 2008-11-10. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
^ CEV. "TRENTINO wins CEV Indesit Champions League!". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
^ Павлова, Инес. "Пламен Константинов (2008)" (in Bulgarian). Мъж на годината. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
^ "Η χρυσή βίβλος της Volleyleague". volleyleague. Retrieved 23 October 2015.