BULGARIA'S Magdalena Maleeva advanced at the Australian Open in Melbourne on January 19 after defeating Russia's Alina Zhidkova.
Maleeva, who is 22nd in the rankings, beat Zhidkova 6-4 7-5. Zhidkova is ranked 54th in the world.
Maleeva was due to play a third round match the winner of a game between 11th seed Russian Nadya Petrova and Australia's Sophie Ferguson in the next round.
After her compatriot Sesil Karatantcheva was defeated, it was left to Maleeva to carry Bulgaria's standard. Karatantcheva, 15, was defeated on January 17 by Russia's Maria Sharapova, 15, with a score of 6-3, 6-1.

· NINE football players from the national team that won Bulgaria fourth place in the 1994 World Cup Finals, challenged the leadership of the Bulgarian Football
Union (BFU) when on January 17 they nominated the goalkeeper of the 1994 squad, Borislav Mihailov, for the position of Union President.
The nomination was announced at a news conference in Sofia's Hilton Hotel by Yordan Lechkov, the former footballer who is now mayor of Sliven.
Lechkov spearheaded the 1994 squad's campaign against current BFU president, Ivan Slavkov, who has been mired in controversy since he a BBC television film alleged he, in his capacity as a member of the International Olympic Committee, was susceptible to corruption in the decision on which city will host the 2012 Olympics.
The January 17 news conference was also attended by national team coach Hristo Stoichkov and his former team mates Nasko Sirakov, Lyuboslav Penev, Trifon Ivanov, Emil Kostadinov, Zlatko Yankov and Peter Mihtarski.
Lechkov said the nomination was also supported by Krassimir Balukov, who currently lives in Germany, and who will be in Sofia on February 8 or 9 to announce his stand. Four of the former nationals are currently involved in the management of football. These are Mihailov, who is Vice President of the BFU, Stoichov who is senior coach of the national team, Sirakov who is Executive Director of the Levski Football Club, and Mihtarski who is coach of the second division Vihren of Sandanski.
Lechkov said this was not a rebellion.
"We want to offer something new in the administration of football adequate for a country about to join the EU," he said.
Mihailov thanked the football nationals of the 1990s for the support, and thanked Slavkov for making it possible for him to work at the BFU for the past four years.
"All present tried to avoid mentioning the name of Ivan Slavkov, no matter that questions connected with him followed one after the other" said Bulgarian-language daily Standart.
Mihailov said that they would make public their platform at the upcoming regular congress of the Bulgarian Football Union.
The date of the Congress has not been set but the group hopes it will be held at the end of the current championship or in June. The date of the Congress is set by the BFU Executive Board, headed by Slavkov.
Sirakov said it was in no one's interest to postpone the BFU Congress. He appealed to Slavkov to delegate his powers to Mihailov immediately. It is 99 per cent certain that Slavkov will not run for the presidential post at the next BFU congress, Sirakov said. Sirakov ruled out the possibility of joining the new BFU leadership.
Slavkov declined to comment on the 1994 squad's campaign. His only remark on the matter, as quoted by the Mediapool e-zine, was before his departure for Portugal earlier on Monday where he said that "debriefing is done after the match".

· BULGARIA will put forward its candidature to host the 2014 Olympic Games within a month, Youth and Sports Minister Vassil Ivanov said on January 15 at a meeting with Olympic medal winners, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.
"We have discussed this possibility with Sofia mayor Stefan Sofianski and Sofia regional governor Olimpi Kutev and we will submit the required documents within a month," Ivanov said.

· EVGENIA Radanova of Bulgaria finished first in the final 1000 m race for women at the European Short Track Skating Championships in Turin, Italy. Radanova covered the distance in 1:39.273 minutes.