Bulgaria shot into the spotlight earlier this year, winning the 2026 European Women’s Team Championships for the first time. There were more positives as the season progressed, with Kaloyana Nalbantova emerging as a strong prospect, and the Stoeva sisters performing consistently.

For Petya Nedelcheva, the European Championships was a particularly emotional triumph. The former player, who had featured in the team’s silver and bronze medal campaigns in 2016 and 2014 respectively, was now team coach, leading the underdogs to their biggest moment in the final against powerhouses Denmark.

Nedelcheva was exceptional in her time, for she excelled in singles and doubles, achieving career-high rankings of No.7 in women’s singles and No.3 in women’s doubles. Runner-up at the European Championships in 2010, and a consistent performer all through her long career, Nedelcheva talks about her playing years, the significance of Bulgaria’s triumph, and the emergence of Nalbantova.

How big a moment was it for Bulgaria to win the European gold?

It was amazing because nobody expected it. The target from the federation and from the national team was just to go and fight for a medal. But step by step during the tournament, we did well, and it was a surprise for everyone.

It’s one of our biggest achievements. Because 10 years ago, in 2016, we played the final against Denmark and we lost. We’ve had bronze and a silver — we missed the gold, and now we finally have the gold.

We try our best because in Europe there are not many strong players right now, especially in women’s doubles. And when we have to compare with Asia, it’s so difficult. When we come for the Asian tournaments, the first tournament is just to see the level, the atmosphere, and all the time it’s difficult. For the World Championships, we try to prepare well and fight for a medal.

Kaloyana was one of the pivots of the team. What do you make of her talent?

Kaloyana is the one of the youngest (prospects), she’s 20 years old. Now she’s one of the biggest talents in Europe, and also, physically, she’s very good.

She has had some big wins, including over Ratchanok Intanon at the Uber Cup…

Yes, against Ratchanok, she didn’t have any pressure. She just went out to play, but anyway, it was a good win. Against these high-level players, if you take one game, it’s amazing — let alone winning the match. For her, the next few years will be very important because she just transitioned two years ago from juniors to seniors. Now, this is the big step. Also now, everybody expects her to deliver results — this is the other side — so she has to be ready. Maybe sometimes we can send her to Asia just for preparation, because in Europe, there is no one.

The Stoevas too have been doing well. What is your approach towards their training?

Women’s doubles is the longest discipline, as always. Physically, you have to be very strong, and also to make the rallies — you have to be ready to sustain the rallies. We work a lot on defense, and also in attack we’ve improved a lot. When you compare with the Asian players, you must be ready all the time. Ranking doesn’t matter; it’s just numbers. Sometimes you go to play the lowest-ranked player, but they are fighting like crazy.

They try to do their best, and we can see how they will continue to play because it’s getting more difficult every year. But we will try our best. We try to prepare them all the time to be ready to fight.

Do you have promising players in other categories as well, like men’s doubles?

We have some juniors. In the next four years it will be better. Right now they are still 15, 16, 17 years old — still very young.

You had a long career and you played singles, doubles, and sometimes mixed. How did you manage so much load?

Maybe physically I was strong, and also mentally. I think mentality was one of the main keys. Because sometimes, you can see your body is very tired, but when you push mentally, you can do whatever you want. I always wanted to play doubles. I didn’t have a permanent partner in Bulgaria, so I always played with some good foreign partners, but I did my best and I’m happy with my career. And now I’m happy with coaching.

What kept you going despite all the challenges?

It was difficult, but I managed. I don’t know how.

Every time you reach some results, you immediately want the next one to be more and more and more. I think this is the motivation. And to fight against the Asians and beat the Asians… because the Chinese were very strong.

I was No.3 in doubles and No.7 in singles. It’s not bad. I lost in the singles quarterfinals maybe six or seven times in the World Championships or big tournaments. Always three games.

Most of the time I tried to travel to France, also to Spain. I was often with Carolina Marin.

You have to continue. In the beginning, I didn’t play the leagues, but after that, I started to play in the league in Denmark, and it was good because we had some good matches and good experience.

What’s the big difference in the level from your time to now?

Everything has changed because it’s much faster. If we have to speak about the players, in my time in Europe, there were more (top) players.

Even Denmark — we can see Denmark has also gone down. Before, Europe was good in all the disciplines, now it’s just one. And this is not good.

What does the success of the Popovs mean to Bulgarian badminton, given that they have Bulgarian background?

They perform at a really high level, and we always support them because we know they are from Bulgaria. I hope for the next few years they will be the best ones. They are motivation for everybody. Also, Alex Lanier, he’s amazing.

Do you see interest increasing in Bulgaria?

I hope so. Everybody must work hard, and this is the way.