Bulgarian national team player Valentin Bratoev posted a photo of him and his family on an airplane early October with the caption, “Nagoya here we come!”
Although he didn’t indicate in the move whether it was a personal or professional one, Japanese volleyball team JTEKT Stings has already posted about his arrival on October 10th.
The team posted his player profile in Japanese which can be found here.
JTEKT Stings plays in the V.Premier League, Japan’s highest league for national level volleyball. The team was promoted into the top league in 2013.
Bratoev is joining the team after playing for the co-host nation of Bulgaria during the 2018 FIVB World Championships. There the team placed 11th overall.
The six-foot-eight wing spiker has spent the last two seasons competing for CSKA Sofia at home in Bulgaria. It was his first time playing at home since playing for Slavia Sofia 2002-2007 and Lavski Sofia 2007-2009 and then joining Levski Sofia again for the 2012-13 season.
Bratoev has played in the Italian League, Qatari League, German League, French League, and the Iranian League. This will be his first time playing for a team in East Asia.
The JTEKT Stings next match will be against Sakai on home turf October 27th.
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