One European pair, who proved what they could do last year, was Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva.
Last years performance booked them their place at the BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou.
The Women’s Doubles pair spoke to Badminton Europe about their recent progression on court and their love for the sport.
Positivity all round
The sisters from Bulgaria, now living in France, have set the bar even higher with their performance on court over the past year.
It now means that they both have to work harder than they ever have done, if they are going to improve further or even maintain the current level.
- After achieving such positive results, our program will change for sure, it will become tougher for us, Stefani Stoeva said.
- But we need to train hard, otherwise, we cannot maintain our performance. We go to the gym and train badminton on court every day, she added.
- In summer, we did a lot of physical training because the Women’s Doubles is not an easy category.
- When we are off court, we like to go to the cinema or shopping, and sometimes we also need to be lazy at home (laughs).
How a sport can change your life
The Stoeva Sisters spoke about how different their lives could have been if it was not for badminton.
- The sport has changed me a lot. It has taught me how good discipline looks
like and how to work as a team player, Gabriela Stoeva stated.
- It has taught me to forget my ego and to talk with my partner about our problems on court and how we can improve. I never liked running, it is not my strength, she said.
- Badminton means a lot to us. I consider badminton as our job, we take it very seriously and of course, we love to play it, Stefani Stoeva said.
- We are glad, when we can encourage young people to practice it as well, she added.