site.btaBulgaria Makes It to Historic Beach Volleyball Quarterfinal at Sveti Vlas

For the first time ever in the Beach Pro Tour, a Bulgarian team has advanced to the quarterfinals. Dimitar Mehandzhiyski and Dimitar Kalchev on Sarturday defeated Argentina's Valentino Salema and Ramiro Sancer 2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-9) in a thrilling round-of-16 match at the Sveti Vlas Futures tournament. Mehandzhiyski and Kalchev will face top-seeded Slovak duo Lubos Nemec and Adrian Petruf for a spot in Sunday's semifinals.

After Friday's 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) group stage loss to Joppe Van Langendonck and Kyan Vercauteren, Belgium's reigning U21 world champions, Bulgaria's Mehandzhiyski and Kalchev rallied with strong support from the home crowd at Venid Beach. Kalchev called the achievement "brutal" and "an amazing milestone," while Mehandzhiyski praised the electrifying atmosphere and the team's improved level of play.

Mehandzhiyski and Kalchev remain the only Bulgarian pair left in the competition, as other teams failed to advance. Among the women, Darina Kindova and Eleonora Gicheva came closest, pushing their match against Norway's Frida Berntsen and Oda Steinsvag to a tiebreak before losing 1-2 (16-21, 21-12, 5-15).

The competition schedule on Saturday will end with the women's and men's quarterfinals, while Sunday will feature the semifinals, third-place matches, and finals.

BTA and Nova Sport are media partners of the event.

Organized under the auspices of Volleyball World, CEV and the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, the event is organized by Dinevi Group and Nu Boyana Film Studios, with support from Masterhaus, Moto-Pfohe, Flair, SAMSUNG, NUII, Aspall, FilmForge, White Water, the municipalities of Nessebar, Burgas and Byala, and Marina Dinevi.