Gabriela Stoeva
Gabriela Stoeva is a Bulgarian badminton player specializing in doubles. Her current partner is her younger sister, Stefani Stoeva. The pair is the four-time European Champion and two-time European Games gold medalist as well. They competed at the 2016, [Badminton at the Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's doubles|2020 Summer Olympics – Women's doubles|2020] and the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Career
Gabriela Stoeva started playing badminton at age 10 in the Haskovo School Club. She joined the national team in 2008, and made a debut in the international event in 2009. In 2009, she won a bronze medal at the European U-17 Championships in the girls' doubles event partnered with her sister, Stefani Stoeva. And at the 2013 European U-19 Championships, the sister won the gold medal.Stoeva won her first BWF Grand Prix title at the 2014 Scottish Open in the women's doubles event with her sister. They beat Heather Olver and Lauren Smith of England in the finals round with the score 21-7 21–15. In 2015, she also won the Grand Prix tournament at the Russian and Dutch Open. Stoeva competed in the 2015 European Games, winning gold in women's doubles alongside her younger sister
In 2017, the Stoevas finished as the runner-ups at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold tournament, losing to the Chinese pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan in the straight games. The sisters also won the silver medal at the European Championships.
2018–2019: First ever Bulgarian to win the European Championships title
Gabriela started the 2018 season by finished as women's doubles runner-up in the Swiss Open with her sister Stefani. They then won their first title of the year in the Orléans Masters. Competing as the second seed in the European Championship, the Stoeva took advantage of the absence of the top seed Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen, by winning their first ever European title, becoming the first Bulgarian players to win the European title since the tournament was first held in 1968. At the home soil, Bulgarian Open, she played in two events, the women's doubles with her sister, while in the mixed doubles with Jakub Bitman of Czechia. She won the women's doubles title and reached the semi-finals in the mixed doubles. The Stoeva are increasingly being considered on the BWF World Tour, as proven by their ability to reach the semi-finals at the China Open, beating top pairs such as Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan in the second round, and then Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan in the quarter-finals. They are increasingly successful in Europe by winning titles such as Dutch Open, SaarLorLux Open, and Scottish Open, as well being runner-up in the French Open. They then reached their career high as world number 8 in the BWF World rankings, and also closed the season ranked as number 7 in the Tour Finals rankings.2020–2021: Second European Championships title
Gabriela and her partner Stefani were lost in the initial rounds in two opening tournaments in 2020. They lost in the first round to Chang Ye-na and Kim Hye-rin at the Indonesia Masters, and to world number 1 Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan in the Thailand Masters. The Stoeva then reached the final in the Spain Masters, losing the final to Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu in a close rubber games. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous tournaments on the 2020 BWF World Tour were either cancelled or rescheduled for later in the year, they then felt the atmosphere of a tournament in Sofia in October, at the Bulgarian International, where she and her partner emerged victory at that tournament. The duo then ended the season by winning the Super 100 event at the SaarLorLux Open.The Stoevas opened the 2021 season as the finalists in the Swiss Open, losing the title to the rising Malaysian pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. They then finished runner-up in the Orléans Masters this time losing to Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand. The duo then clinched their first title of the year by winning their second European Championships title in Kyiv, Ukraine. The duo competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but were eliminated in the group stage.
2022: 3rd European Championships title
Gabriela and her partner Stefani opened the 2022 season with quite satisfactory results, by becoming finalists in the German Open. They then won 3 consecutive tournaments, in the Swiss Open, Orléans Masters and in their third European Championships.Gabriela and Stefani ended the year on poor form, exiting four of their final six tournaments in the first round. She stated that their partnerships were lost communication on court, only arguing, and the energy around them was pretty negative.
2023: Second European Games gold
In the first semester of 2023, Stoeva has not been able to win any single titles, as her best results with Stefani was being quarter-finalists in the Malaysia, India and the German Opens. Gabriela tried to partner with young player, Kaloyana Nalbantova, and was able to reach the quarter-finals in the Dutch International.Gabriela and Stefani claimed their first title of the year by winning the gold medal at the European Games, beating Dutch pair Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen in the finals. They also competed in the BWF World Championships, but had to be knocked out in the early rounds by Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam of Hong Kong. In the remaining tournaments in 2023, they were able to win the International Challenge titles in Scotland, Bahrain and Wales, as well as finished runner-up in the Irish Open.
2024
Stoeva won her first international title in 2024 at the Azerbaijan International. She and her partner reached the finals in the German Open, but lost to Chinese pair Li Yijing and Luo Xumin. As the defending champion at the European Championships, Stoeva unable to defend their title after lost to French pair Margot Lambert and Anne Tran in the final.Achievements
European Games
Women's doubles| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Baku Sports Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan |  European ChampionshipsWomen's doubles
|