Hundredths of a second deprived the Bulgarian double sculls from a semifinal at the World Cup in Plovdiv

The two Bulgarian double sculls boats, which are defending the national honor in the second round of the Rowing World Cup for men and women in Plovdiv, remained outside the semifinal phase in the discipline. All four of our representatives will continue their participation in final races outside the top 12.

The Bulgarian crews participated in the double sculls heats, with "Mario Neykov" and "Valentin Andonov" being the first to take to the water. They had a very strong row in the second heat and finished in third position, letting only the boats of "Italy" and "Brazil" ahead and leaving the representatives of the "Republic of Korea" and "Turkey" at a significant distance.

Neykov and Andonov crossed the finish line with a time of "06:20.32 minutes" and had to wait for the results from the other heats, as according to the regulations, the "first two boats from each heat" and the "four fastest third times" receive the right to participate in the semifinals. Thus, the Bulgarian tandem was temporarily ranked among the contenders for the last spots.

The drama for our rowers came in the last – fourth heat, where the boat of "Moldova" managed at the very end to set a better time than that of Neykov and Andonov. The Moldovan crew overtook the Bulgarians by only "63 hundredths of a second" and secured the last place in the "top 12", which brings qualification for the semifinals. Thus, the Bulgarian duet remained just below the line and will continue the race in "Final C".

In the same final, the other Bulgarian participants in the Rowing World Cup – "Hristo Neshev" and "Iliyan Stoilov" – will also row. They competed in the third heat of the double sculls, where they finished in fourth place and also failed to fight for a place among the semifinalists. In this way, both Bulgarian crews will seek the best possible ranking in the lower finals of the home competition in Plovdiv.