Following their second consecutive loss, the Stoevas failed to go past the group stage in their second Olympics. Being drawn in arguably the toughest women’s doubles group didn’t help either.
Their opponents, the No. 3 seeded Chinese controlled the proceedings from start to finish. The Stoeva sisters did well to level at 18-18 in the opener, but failed to keep it up.
-I think we made too many easy mistakes and we knew this match was very important for us, Stefani noted.
They lost to Chen Qingchen/ Jia Yifan 21-18, 21-15. Their disappointment was only too clear in the post match interview.
-We came here to make good results. This is our second Olympics and we wanted to get beyond the group stage, but this won't happen now. We feel very disappointed, Gabriela added.
A tough draw
As it might have been expected from their previous encounters, the Bulgarians had a close match against the Koreans Kim So Yeong/ Kong Hee Yong. However, their inadequacy to convert the two match point opportunities on Day 1 came back to haunt them today.
-We had our chance against the Korean pair too, so we feel very disappointed. I know we need to be at 100%. It's difficult against a top Asian pair, Stefani pointed out.
They will next face Jongkolphan Kititharakul/ Rawinda Prajongjai for the third place in Group D.