Kramarenko & Hudyakov and Wheeler & Quiggle top Sofia podium

Aleksandr Kramarenko & Maksim Hudyakov of Russia and Alexandra Wheeler & Corinne Quiggle of USA topped the podium at the historic World Tour one-star event in Sofia.

In the men’s final, Kramarenko & Hudyakov claimed a 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) victory over Maciej Rudol & Jakub Nowak of Poland and took their first World Tour medal together. The fifth-seeded Russian team went through the entire tournament without losing any sets in the five matches played.

10th-seeded Rudol & Nowak took a silver medal at their very first appearance on the World Tour as a team.

Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa & Hugo Campos, seeded ninth, completed the all-European podium in the Bulgarian capital. In Sunday’s bronze medal match, they managed a 2-0 (25-23, 21-15) shutout of another Polish duo, seventh-seeded Jedrzej Brozyniak & Piotr Janiak.

On the women’s side, Wheeler & Quiggle made an impressive run of seven consecutive victories from Thursday’s qualifications all the way to lifting the trophy on Sunday. The 10th-seeded American pair won gold at their first World Tour event together after a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) win over second-seeded Norisbeth Isais Agudo Gonzalez & Gabriela Brito of Venezuela.

By snatching the silver in Sofia, Agudo & Gabi wrote history for their country by taking Venezuela’s first ever World Tour medal in either gender.

Austria’s Dorina Klinger & Ronja Klinger made sure Europe is represented on the women’s podium. The third-seeded team won the bronze after a 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) victory over Daria Gusarova and Erika Nyström of Cyprus in the third place match. It was the second Tour medal for the Austrian sisters.