Dimitar Kalchev and Dimitar Mehandzhiyski finished fourth in the Sveti Vlas Beach Pro Tour Futures tournament, after losing the bronze medal match to Ukrainian brothers Ivan and Richard Likhatsky 1:2 (21:17, 16:21, 11:15).
The Bulgarian tandem started excellently and won the first set, but the Ukrainians equalized after a strong performance in the second part. In the decisive tie-break, the two teams played evenly until 9:9, after which the Likhatskys made a series of four consecutive points and reached victory.
Despite the defeat, Kalchev and Mehandzhiyski were the best-performing Bulgarian pair in the tournament. They reached the semifinals after several prestigious victories, including a dramatic quarterfinal success over Italians Marco Ulisse and Giacomo Spadoni.
Thus, the Bulgarians remained one step away from the medals and failed to repeat their bronze distinction from the previous edition of the competition, but earned valuable points for the world rankings.