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Bulgaria wins a complex bronze cup in China

Petyo Oprov – a welder in the Specialised Division Decommissioning Unit 1-4 at SERAW, returned with a gold medal from the Sixth International Welding Skills Competition for young welders.
The event took place from the 5th to 10th June 2018 in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, China. One of the most significant events for the welding world involved about 30 teams, including over 300 young welders of age between 18 and 35, technical supervisors and coaches as well as jury, judges and researchers – all in all around 500 people.
Bulgaria has entered in the world competition with three competitors, who have previously been nominated as winners of the National contest Young Welder of Bulgaria 2018 in the following categories: Nenko Ivanov from Aurubis Bulgaria AD, Pirdop – Method 111/SMAW; Petyo Oprov from SERAW, Kozloduy – Method 141/GTAW; Liliyan Todorov from Instal Engineering SV OOD, Plovdiv – Method 135 / GMAW and category of Finished product.
The Bulgarian welders have been rated as one of the fastest and most technical welders in the world. Thanks to their performance, our national team has managed to take the prestigious 3rd place in competition with teams from all over the world, among which there were participants from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, South Africa, Korea, India, China and others.
Our boys astonished the judging committee and the international judges and experts with speed, technique, precision and strong motivation to carry out the tasks. – commented the coach of the team Pavel Popgeorgiev*.
This is what Petyo Oprov shared after returning from China:
Suddenly they said, “Bulgaria – champion! Petyo Oprov”. I could not believe.
And it has been really hard to believe because of the challenging way to victory. Our team has arrived the night before the opening of the contest, after 20 hours of flight, and the draw has determined Petyo to participate immediately after the start. “We were tired, unsteady, disoriented by the time difference, and due all of this we were a little discouraged for good performance – in welding “it’s a hand”, you have to be calm”.
Though yet very motivating has been the thought to compete with the best in the world: “I did not expect such a high position in the ranking, because they are all very good, perfect, chosen among many others in their countries, big countries.”
Petyo Oprov has participated in the argon-arc welding discipline in front of a large international commission (over 20 people) while two video cameras have documented his work. The main evaluation criteria established were speed and quality. He has finished his task (pipe, corner seam, vertical seam) for unprecedented 45 minutes, which along with the flawless quality, has brought the gold medal.
“We worked very well with the other guys in the team. They also excelled in their disciplines. And so we had this incredible achievement – third place and Bronze Cup for Bulgaria “.
“The people we met there were very happy for us. There were no envy, no competitive aggression, although it is a competition, we still exchange experience. They treated us with much respect for us and our success.”
Our national welding team has received an invitation to participate in another major competition this year – in Ukraine. “I hope to get support from SERAW and go again to show what we can, because at such places you represent yourself, your enterprise and the national flag.”
Petyo made his first weld in casual circumstances ten years ago in Italy. Then he got engaged and began to learn seriously. “I really like to weld. I have read many books about this profession. I enrolled in courses. My method is practice and theory… I have to admit it is not an easy profession. The metal is heated. The heat tires the most. For 30-40 minutes of work the feeling is sometimes for a full day and suddenly you lose your strength. In China we were welding at 40 degrees. The number of welders dropped greatly, the good ones leave Bulgaria.”
Petyo Oprov had received several job offers from companies from Russia, Austria, Ukraine, and South Africa. He has replied that he was not interested, and they have understood his decision. “I want to stay in Bulgaria. I have worked in different countries, but I prefer to be here, I do not want to live in nostalgia”, said the world-renowned professional Petyo Oprov on the eve of his 33th birthday.

* In the material are used information and photo from the website of the Bulgarian Welding Union.