For the fourth time in four editions, Bulgaria will line up at the start of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship, and they will be buoyed by being the hosts of this edition, which takes place in the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna.

The common denominator for all four editions for Bulgaria is the team's star, Svetlin Dimitrov, who is also the all-time top scorer of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship with 184 goals, being the top goal scorer at Kosovo 2015 and Bulgaria 2017.

The 32-year-old right wing has spent the last 13 years of his career in France, moving to C' Chartres MHB, a first-league side, in 2020, and had a good season over the last months, scoring 55 goals in the first 24 matches played for his club team.

"Of course, I learnt the basics of handball, the ABC, if you want to call it like that, in Bulgaria, but living in France helped me develop as a player, adding more and more layers to my game. Now, at Chartres, I get to play with some excellent players and feature against some of the best players in the world," says Dimitrov for IHF.info.

He is undoubtedly the leader of the current Bulgaria side. While he does not like to be called a veteran – "I am still only 32 years old," he laughs – he brings plenty of experience and leadership to the table in what looks to be an inexperienced side.

While Bulgaria might look like that at first glance, they are surely pumped up and ready to go by the thought of playing in front of their fans, friends and families, with a significant chance of trying to replicate the excellent tournament at Georgia 2019, when they ended up in third place, securing the bronze medal.

"Indeed, it is an honour and a great pleasure to play in front of our fans, and we will try to do our best to secure a very good result in this competition. Last time we hosted the Men's Emerging Nations Championship, we ended up in fifth place. Therefore, we want more," adds the right wing.

Back then, six years ago, in Veliko Tarnovo, Dimitrov added his second top goal scorer title while making the All-Star team at Georgia 2019 when he was named the best right wing of the competition.

This time around, he knows that the ambitions are high, but a player who has seen it all likes to tone down the expectations before the start of the tournament, which sees Bulgaria play against Azerbaijan and Nigeria in the group phase of the 2023 IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship.

"Let's not talk about being favourites or other things like that before we have even started the competition. Of course, we have an advantage for playing on our home court, but we are still facing tough opponents, good teams at this level, so we need to be on our toes," says Dimitrov.

With the Bulgaria right wing having already written history for himself in the previous editions of the competition, a third top scorer title in four editions might look like a huge achievement. But is this individual award a target for him?

"Not at all. If I manage to help my team and create some good results, that is more than a goal scored for me. We have a young team, and we want to win some games here. This is the objective; this is why we are fighting for it," says Bulgaria's right wing.

With the space for error being minimal in this competition, as only the group winners qualify for the semi-finals and remain in the hunt for the trophy, the start is crucial for every side, especially for Bulgaria as hosts, as they can build the needed momentum.

The game against Azerbaijan will come against a side which has already played official international games in January, winning against Malta and losing against Cyprus and Great Britain in the EHF EURO 2026 Qualification Phase 1.

Bulgaria have only won their first game at the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship once, in 2019, and it proved to be a lucky charm as they ended up on the podium. Another win is mandatory on Tuesday, in the last game of the opening day at Bulgaria 2023.

But, once again, Dimitrov urges caution.

"The IHF has made quite big strides in trying to help emerging nations, like Bulgaria and the other teams here, develop handball. Therefore, we must take this chance and improve, because the potential is there. We need to make handball more popular in Bulgaria," concludes Dimitrov.

Photos: Bulgarian Handball Federation