Fourteen Bulgarian taekwondo players are at a training camp in Teteven before flying to Iran ©Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation

Bulgaria’s best Taekwondo athletes are in a pre-Olympic training camp in Teteven - but will soon swap the mountain town for Iran.

Fourteen players are due to depart for Iran this month, where they are will train with the host’s national team.

Bulgaria’s national taekwondo coach, Farzad Zolghadri, is Iranian.

Iran’s Taekwondo team will follow their counterparts back to Bulgaria at the conclusion of the camp to take part in another inter-squad training programme before the Sofia Open.

That tournament is currently scheduled for March 6 and 7.

Sofia is also due to stage the European Championships from April 8 to 11 and the European qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on May 7 and 8.

Sofia is due to be the venue for a series of high-profile taekwondo tournaments in the coming months ©Getty Images
Sofia is due to be the venue for a series of high-profile taekwondo tournaments in the coming months ©Getty Images

Bulgaria’s 14-athlete squad includes Vladimir Dalakliev, a bronze medallist at the 2017 World Championships.

Kaloyan Binev, Bozhidar Avramov, Teodor Zdravkov, Alexander Djordjev, Hristo Bogdanov, Lyubomir Bogdanov, Kristian Zlatev, Daniel Ladjev, Nikolet Kostova, Gabriela Katsarova, Ilina Ivanova, Kalina Petrova and Emilia Taseva are the others athletes set for the trip to Iran.

No Bulgarian taekwondo player has appeared at the Olympic Games before.