Stefani and Gabriella Stoeva was the European representation in the final of the Women’s Doubles event on Sunday at the YONEX French Open.
The sisters from Bulgaria did the continent proud, by just reaching the finals in Paris but up against a tough Japanese pair in Mayu Matsumoto/ Wakana Nagahara, it was always going to be tough.
An unfortunate match result
The first game was quite one-sided with the Japanese taking a lead quite quickly by going 4-1 up giving the Bulgarians a small mountain to climb, which their opponents went on to win 21-14.
The second game was much more even with the Stoeva’s finding a burst of energy to bring the deficit down to just two at the end but Matsumoto/Nagahara won the game 21-19.
The small damage in the second was done when the Japanese took a 13-5 lead and despite a late effort of a comeback, it was curtains for the Stoeva Sisters.
A good performance overall
Stefani Stoeva speaking to Badminton Europe believes that despite the result, the performance in the final was positive.
- I think that we can see our performance in the right way, our training and our fight was been good here in Paris, Stefani Stoeva said.
Gabriella Stoeva believes that they can take a lot of positives from the tournament and take it forward to the Saar Lor Lux Open this week.
- It is so good to be finally reaching the finals of the big tournaments and we will take it forward and hopefully reach more finals, Gabriella Stoeva said.
Stefani Stoeva also spoke about being happy for just reaching later stages and that it was something to smile about.
- We are very happy with our performance, even losing in the final. For us it was a good success to be in the final, she added.
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