The Bulgarian men's national U17 team continues its preparation for the Balkan Championship in Albania, which will take place from August 4 to 8.
After a two-week training camp in Burgas since July 13, Ivan Stanev's squad is now preparing in Stara Zagora. There, the young national players will play two friendly matches against Romania – tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. An eventual control match against the Bulgarian national U20 team, led by Ventsislav Simeonov, who has an upcoming European qualifier at the end of August in Sofia, is also planned for next week.
In a conversation with VolleyWeek, head coach Ivan Stanev revealed that the initial extended squad of 20 players has now been reduced to 16. After the control matches, the final selection of 14 volleyball players who will represent Bulgaria at the Balkan Championship is pending.
From the extended squad, Jayson Barutov, Aleksandar Ivanov, Yavor Nedelchev, and Atila Kadir Osmanoglu have been released for now. However, the four remain in the expanded group for the World Championship and continue to prepare with their clubs.
After the Balkan Championship, attention will turn to the World Championship in Qatar, which will be held from August 19 to 29. This will be the second edition of the championship, after the first one took place in Sofia in August 2024.
The staff's concerns before departing for Qatar are not so much related to the harsh climatic conditions and high temperatures, but rather to the situation in the region.
Following the release of the four players, the following 16 volleyball players remain in the Bulgaria U17 camp:
Setters:
Konstantin Tsanev (Cherno More)
Emiliyan Dinchev (VASK)
Outside Hitters:
Aleksandar Nestorov (Levski)
Deyan Angelov (VASK)
Kayio Pavlov (VASK)
Ivan Antonov (Montana)
Kaloyan Stefanov (CSKA)
Sali Sezgin (Isperih)
Middle Blockers:
Krastin Ilov (CSKA)
Ivan Kamanov (VASK)
Mariyan Georgiev (Slavia)
Ivan Velichkov (Minyor)
Miroslav Dakov (CSKA)
Opposite Hitter:
Denislav Kirov (VASK)
Libero:
Ivaylo Donev (CSKA)
Dean Lakov (Levski)