The Bulgarian national team will compete for fifth place at the U19 World Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Their opponent in the final match will be Italy, led by Manuel Zlatanov - grandson of the legend Dimitar Zlatanov and son of Hristo Zlatanov.

This match came about after Italy defeated Finland 3:0 (25:19, 25:20, 25:23). The Squadra imposed their will on Finland in three sets and qualified for the fifth-place match. The two teams finished evenly in terms of successful attacks (38:38), but the Italians excelled in blocks (11 against 4) and capitalized on more opponent errors (24 against 19).

Manuel Zlatanov contributed steadily with 10 points (out of 13 total, 10 in attack), but the most prolific scorer for Italy was Gianni with 14. For Finland, Viljamaa finished with 12 points.

Statistics:

• Attack:38 – 38

• Block:11 – 4

• Serve:2 – 1

• Opponent errors:24 – 19

• Total points:75 – 62

Defense:

• Digs:59 – 55

• Reception:50 – 67

• Setting:95 \u2013 102

The match for fifth place between Bulgaria and Italy is expected with great interest, not only because of the historical rivalry, but also because of the presence of Manuel Zlatanov extemdash a representative of a glorious volleyball dynasty. Last year, the two teams played two friendly matches before the start of the home European Championship in Sofia and Plovdiv.

At the previous World Championship for this age group in Argentina - 2023, Bulgaria finished fifth, defeating Belgium. Our team then included: Simeon Nikolov, Vitekov, Zekov, Titriyski, L. Zlatkov, Kandev, N. Ivanov, Andreev, Kozelov, Delibosov, Aleksandar Nikolov (not Alex Nikolov) and Chipev.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov andvolleyballworld.com