Bulgaria's men's volleyball team, ranked fourth in the world, lost 1-3 (25-20, 16-25, 22-25, 21-25) against Russia on August 20 in the quartefinals of the Olympic tournament.

A strong start secured Bulgaria the first set, but several controversial calls from the match judges went Russia's way and allowed Bulgaria's opponents to equalise.

"Unfortunately, I think that the judge decisions were not mistakes, but intentional and came at a crucial time, when we were leading 6-2 in the second set and could have built up a lead," Bulgaria's head coach Martin Stoev said after the game, as quoted by sports website gong.bg.

An even third set ensued, but a series of mistakes towards the end of the set gave Russia the lead. The pattern repeated in the fourth set. "At the end of the sets, in the most important periods, they played more stable than us and deservedly won," Stoev said.

Bulgaria, bronze medallists at last year's World Cup, when it scored its only win over Russia in six years, were credited good odds for a medal in Beijing. But the confusion surrounding captain Plamen Konstantinov and the suspicion of high testosterone levels in his doping tests, took its toll and the team's performance in China was decidedly lacklustre.

Veterans Vladimir Nikolov and Evgeni Ivanov said that they would retire from the national side in the aftermath of the match. Stoev will quit after the tournament, which he announced in 2007, after the World Cup.

He thanked the players for the effort they put in during his last match in charge: "I want to thank the boys for the spirit and the effort they made, as well as for fighting until the end as a team."

Russia will now meet the winner of the match between the US and Serbia in the semi-finals. Italy, who beat Poland in their quarterfinal match 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 26-28, 17-15), will meet the winner of the match between reigning champions Brazil and China.