Italian international Ofelia Malinov, who has Bulgarian roots, will continue her career in China. The 30-year-old setter will play for Beijing Arctic Ocean in the 2026/2027 season, after last playing for Turkish club Zeren Spor. The news was reported by the Italian website SportivoNews, and the volleyball player also shared it on her Instagram profile. Malinov has already arrived in Beijing, where she will work under the guidance of Italian specialist Marco Musso. Before her departure, she maintained her form with Igor Gorgonzola (Novara).

Ofelia was born on February 29, 1996, in Bergamo to a family of Bulgarian volleyball players. Her father is the famous coach Atanas Malinov, who in the 90s led Foppapedretti (Bergamo) to two Italian championship titles and a triumph in the European Champions Cup in 1997. Her mother, Kamelia Arsenova, is also a former volleyball player who continued her career in Italy. One of the most curious moments in the family history is related to Bruel Bassano. In 2014, Atanas Malinov was the coach of the team in which his wife Kamelia and their daughter Ofelia played. Thus, the three found themselves together in a volleyball team, with the mother returning to the court at the age of 46.

Initially, Ofelia played as an attacker, but it was her father who directed her to the setter position. The decision did not particularly appeal to her, as she preferred to finish attacks herself. Over time, however, she discovered the pleasure of organizing the game, and she adopted the legendary Italian Eleonora Lo Bianco as her role model. Although both her parents are Bulgarian, Malinov grew up in Italy and went through the local volleyball school. At just 18, she got a chance in the women's national team from coach Marco Bonitta. She debuted in July 2014 in a friendly match against Japan, and a year later she was already getting significant playing time in the World Grand Prix. With the national team, she won the European title in 2021, a silver medal from the 2018 World Championship, and bronze from the 2022 World Championship. Her accolades also include the Nations League trophy in 2022. At the 2018 World Championship, she was named the best setter of the tournament. Malinov has never hidden her connection to Bulgaria. In an interview for the Italian club Chieri, she said that all her relatives are in her parents' homeland. In 2022, when Italy visited Sofia for the Nations League, she described the upcoming match with the Bulgarians as particularly emotional for her. In addition to Ofelia, the Malinov family has two other daughters – twins Emma and Michela, who have also followed the volleyball path. A curious detail is that the setter is named after her grandmother, and her close ones call her Lia. The upcoming season in Beijing will be Malinov's first in her career outside Europe.