By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Bulgaria overcame a tough Czechia side, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, to continue its dream run and book a finals berth in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The victory not only matched their best finish so far in the tournament but also ended a 55-year long wait for the Bulgarians, who last saw action in the championship round in the 1970 edition held on their home soil. Unfortunately, they lost the title to then East Germany in five sets.
Aleksandar Nikolov produced another monster game by exploding for 31 points for Bulgaria, including 27 kills, three aces and one block.
“I owed it to the guys. We managed to win a good game,” said Nikolov, who topped the scoring and attacking departments in the classification stage.
Bulgaria head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini admitted it wasn’t their best game, but lauded the efforts of his stalwarts to recover from their erratic plays.
“It means a lot that they stayed and searched for solutions even if we didn’t play our best game especially in service,” the Italian mentor said, referring to the 28 points they gave up on errors.
Team captain Aleks Grozdanov also stepped up for the Bulgarians by posting 12 points including four blocks, while Asparuh Asparuhov contributed 10 points.
Bulgaria was relentless on all fronts, pumping in 56 kills compared to Czechia’s 49, and making 12 blocks — five more than its opponents. Despite struggling with their service, the Bulgarians still managed eight aces.
Bulgaria, which is in search of a historic first world championship title, awaits the winner between defending champion Italy and world No. 1 Poland, who are battling for the other finals seat at press time.
Lukas Vasina and Jan Galabov scored 17 and 13 points, respectively, while Patrik Indra added 10 points, but their efforts went futile for Czechia.
