Despite Bulgaria's defeat in the first match of the World Championship, two Bulgarian nationals found a place among the leading names in the individual rankings after the opening day of the tournament.
Aleksandar Nikolov is ranked highest, sharing second place with Rok Možič among scorers with 25 points. Only the Italian opposite hitter Rychlicki is ahead of him with 30 points.
The Bulgarian outside hitter is also No. 2 among the best attackers. Nikolov scored 23 points from attack with a 57.50% success rate, trailing only Rychlicki in total attack points - 27.
Simeon Nikolov also made it into the Top 5 among setters. The Bulgarian national shares fifth place with 29 successful finishing passes. The leader in the ranking is Chinese setter Wang Haobin with 42.

In the remaining statistical categories, France's young prospect Yiegbekedo leads among blockers with 8 block points, Ukrainian Yanchuk and Brazilian Adriano among servers with 4 aces each, Argentinian Massimino among players with saved balls in defense, and Italian libero Lorenzano among receivers.

Photos: Nikolay Varadinov