SOSNOWIEC.The withdrawal of the fourth middle blocker from Bulgaria's squad for the Silesia Cup tournament forced the national team's staff to resort to an unconventional solution. Levski's young hopeful and youth national player Dimitar Peychinov, who typically plays as an opposite hitter, was called up to the squad.
The 211-cm tall, 17-year-old talent joined the team's training as a middle blocker to fill the void created by Ivaylo Damyanov's absence. The volleyball player missed the tournament due to personal reasons, which left Blengini with limited options at the middle blocker position.
At the same time, another young "blue" player, Lazar Buchkov, who was in the plans of head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini, suffered an injury. Expectations are that the middle blocker might be able to join for the second week of the Nations League tournament.
The situation places additional pressure on the staff's personnel selection, which is forced to seek internal solutions and give a chance to young players already at the beginning of the international summer.