The Bulgarian women’s national handball team failed to qualify for the second round of the 2023 World Cup qualifiers in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark after suffering a second defeat to Italy. The Bulgarian girls lost to Squadra Azura with 29-33 (13-18) in the second leg in Chieti and after losing 19-26 in the first match in Varna a few days ago, they dropped out of the qualifiers.
The Bulgarian women’s national handball team, which returned to the international stage after a 6-year hiatus, were equal until the middle of the first half, but with 5 goals in a row, the hosts from Italy pulled 12-7 in the 19th minute and kept their advantage at the break. A strong few minutes after the middle of the second half and four unanswered goals allowed the Bulgarians to reduce to 23-26 in the 49th minute, but until the end Italy did not allow the gap to be shortened any further.
The top scorer for Bulgaria was Mari Tomova with 9 goals, while Lidiya Kovacheva and Polina Gencheva added 6 goals each. Ramona Manojlovic scored 8 goals for Italy.
