site.btaTennis Player Ivan Ivanov Named Bulgaria’s Best Young Athlete of 2025

The singles champion in the boys’ events at Wimbledon and the US Open, tennis player Ivan Ivanov, was selected as Bulgaria’s Best Young Athlete for 2025 in the poll organized by the specialized youth sports website Viasport.bg.

A record 132 media representatives took part in the 14th edition of the survey. Points towards the final ranking were awarded to 56 individual athletes under the age of 19, four teams and five youth coaches.

Volleyball player Simeon Nikolov, a silver medallist with Bulgaria’s men’s national team at the World Championship, finished second, while third place went to racing driver Nikola Tsolov, runner-up in Formula 3, who made a significant contribution to Campos Racing’s first-ever constructors’ title.

Last year’s winner and two-time European vault silver medallist Valentina Georgieva placed seventh.

The ceremony was attended by legends of Bulgarian sport and presidents of sports federations, including Yordan Yovchev, Ivet Lalova, Nikolay Ivanov, Lyubomir Ganev, Krasimir Dunev, Rumen Stoilov, among others.

Team of the Year was awarded to Bulgaria’s Under-19 girls’ national volleyball team, coached by Atanas Petrov, who guided the team to the world title in this age group. Petrov was also named Coach of the Year and received his award from Vesela Lecheva, the newly elected President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee.

The Will to Win Award was presented to Anton Tolev, a footballer from the CSKA academy, who was stabbed by an aggressive individual on New Year’s Eve at the beginning of 2025.

At the ceremony, a special award titled “Basketball Inspirer”, named after former basketball player Spas Natov, was presented to coach Zdravko Yanchev from Yambol. The award was handed over by Georgi Glushkov, President of the Bulgarian Basketball Federation, who celebrated his birthday on the same day.

The founder of Heroes of the Future, Bozhidar Kartunov, selected young snowboarder Malena Zamfirova as the recipient of the organisation’s special prize, awarded to an athlete who sets a positive example through their actions and behaviour both on and off the sporting field.

For the first time in the history of the poll, a special award was presented to a sports federation. The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation was named the best federation for its work with young athletes during the year. The award was established by the Association of Bulgarian Sports Federations (ABSF) and was received by Bulgarian Volleyball Federation President Lyubomir Ganev from Ivan Tsenov, Chairman of the Association.

Ganev said that six years ago the Management Board decided to focus on youth development. "Over the past five years, we have won ten medals at major championships, nine of them in youth competitions. I would like to thank the Ministry of Sport for its support, the media and the fans. We will continue to work in this way, because without investment in youth development, such results are impossible,” he added.

Top 10 in the poll for Bulgaria’s Best Young Athlete:

Ivan Ivanov (tennis)

Simeon Nikolov (volleyball)

Nikola Tsolov (motor sport)

Aleksander Vasilev (tennis)

Malena Zamfirova (snowboarding)

Dimana Ivanova (volleyball)

Valentina Georgieva (artistic gymnastics)

Hristiyan Kasabov (athletics)

Viktoria Ninova (volleyball)

Kalina Veneva (volleyball)