The Bulgarian national team will travel to the second tournament of the Nations League in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana without one of its young talents – Zhasmin Velichkov, learnedVolleyWeek.bg.
The 19-year-old receiver was part of Gianlorenzo Blengini's squad for the first week of the competition in Brazil, where he made an impressive debut despite his tender age.
Velichkov will join the Bulgarian U22 national team, which will participate in the European Championship in Portugal. Thus, the young receiver will not be available to the men's team for the matches in Ljubljana.
Although he received limited playing time in the capital Brazil, the Stara Zagora native quickly became one of Blengini's preferred options for serving. Velichkov played in all four of Bulgaria's matches against Belgium, Iran, Argentina, and Serbia, performing a total of 21 serves and making only one error, which equates to 95.24% successful serves.

Interestingly, his only inaccuracy came during the match against Serbia, after a several-minute video check immediately before the serve, which disrupted the rhythm and concentration of the young volleyball player.
Even more indicative is the fact that Blengini continued to show him confidence in key moments of the matches. For a player making his first steps in men's volleyball at just 19 years old, this is a serious sign of the coaching staff's assessment.

In the last match of the tournament against Serbia, Velichkov also scored his first points with the men's national team in an official match, finishing with three points and 50% attack efficiency.

Zhasmin Velichkov's performance in the first VNL tournament

• 21 serves performed

• 1 service error

• 0 aces

• 6 receptions

• 2 reception errors

• 6 attacks

• 3 points from attack

• 50% attack efficiency

• 3 total points

Velichkov's absence from the tournament in Ljubljana means that Bulgaria will temporarily lose a player who, even on his debut, showed that he can be a reliable option from the service line and a valuable choice from the bench, despite being only 19 years old, having turned that age at the beginning of the month.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov