Bulgaria's women's national team concluded its participation in the friendly tournament "Austiger Cup" in Shenzhen, China, with an impressive 3:2 (26:24, 23:25, 23:25, 25:19, 15:13) victory over Canada in its final warm-up match before the World Championship.

The first set was extremely even, with Bulgaria missing two chances to close the set at 24:22, but managing to prevail with two consecutive points – 26:24. In the second set, our team was leading, but Canada managed to stabilize their game and reversed the score to 23:25. A similar dramatic outcome occurred in the third set, when the North Americans once again showed composure at the end – 23:25, to take a 2:1 lead in sets.

The Bulgarians responded convincingly in the fourth set, winning it 25:19 and tying the score for a tie-break. In the decisive fifth set, the national team started strong with four consecutive points. Canada got back into the game, but the "lionesses" took the initiative at 13:8 and closed the match at 15:13, recording their first victory in the tournament.

Kalina Veneva's performance was particularly impressive; she finished with 12 points, including 3 aces with only one error and 50% attack efficiency. The U19 world champion once again confirmed her high potential.

After three matches, Bulgaria's record in the tournament is 1 win and 2 losses. Following a 1:3 defeat to reigning world champion Serbia and a contested match against the Netherlands (2:3), the team showed significant progress and managed to build a game rhythm. Coach Antonina Zetova gave all players the opportunity to participate in the trials – valuable experience before the start of the championship.

The national team's next challenge is the World Championship in Thailand, where Bulgaria will kick off with a match against Canada on Saturday at 12:00 PM.