2012 Bulgarian International: Gabriela Stoeva, Stefani Stoeva claim Women’s Doubles crown
Women’s Doubles partners Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva lived up to the expectations and clutched a top spot on the victory stand of Babolat Bulgarian International on October 7, 2012.
They unseated Ozge Bayrak-Neslihan Yigit of Turkey in just 21 minutes and raised trophy after putting the favourable figures of 21-9 and 21-17.
This final match was played at local badminton arena of Sofia and a huge crowd assembled to support the native shuttlers.
The twosome of Gabriela and Stefani relished full benefits of home ground and sealed a splendid straight-set victory.
Meanwhile, the top seeded duo could not live up to the billing and surrendered tamely in both games.
In the opening game, Ozge and Neslihan looked completely off colour as they failed to forge a fruitful chemistry and lost a vital match point.
First sign of trouble came when they slipped down straight away in the beginning and could not rise until final moments.
The local team Gabriela-Stefani got into commanding position by piling up a decent total of 5-2. They made best out of this initial advantage and raised their lead with scoreboard flashing a mountainous margin of 11-5.
After the one-minute break, the Turkish campaigners strived hard to bounce back but the opposing team did not give them even a single counter-attack opportunity.
Gabriela and Stefani mounted pressure with few back-to-back productive rallies and then served notice of their supremacy with a staggering knock of 21-9.
There was a lot of drama in the second set as both teams remained close on points table and match kept swinging between both contenders.
Initially, neither of them could make a notable difference and stood equal until 6-6 but then Ozge and Neslihan prevailed in four consecutive rallies to establish a respectable lead.
However, their supremacy was short lived as the twosome of Gabriela and Stefani gathered eleven points in a row and placed an indomitable total of 17-10.
At this stage, the Turkish shuttlers showed strong character and narrowed the gap with 16-19 but this was not enough to avoid a woeful defeat.
Gabriela and Stefani raised hands as champions after reading the decisive score of 21-17.
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