This week, the Scottish Open would have taken place. Due to the COVID-19 situation the tournament has been cancelled. Badminton Europe looks back at previous editions of the tournament and today we take a look at the 2014 and 2018 Scottish Open featuring winners Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva.
In this article, we are able to look back at two editions of the Scottish Open, which has been taking place for 113 years, as the Bulgarian Stoeva sisters have managed to win two titles. In the modern era, only Russia’s Valeri Sorokina/ Nina Vislova can compare, with three titles.
Even as juniors, the Stoevas were picking up senior international tournaments on the European Circuit. However, a key moment in their career came after winning the 2013 European Junior Championships in Turkey. From Ankara to Istanbul, they secured another Turkey International, defeating the Turkish combination of Bayrak/ Yigit, 21-15, 21-8. This was a marked improvement on their narrow victory, 23-21 in the deciding game, in the previous year’s final. This sparked something in them, as Stefani Stoeva explains
- We were able to beat quite good doubles pairs at that time and after winning the title we said that we will start to looking more seriously on badminton practice.
First Grand Prix title
In the 2014 Scottish Open, after playing well in the tournament it was a strange situation in that the Stoevas had a walkover in the semifinal. In the other semifinal, they saw that England’s Heather Olver/ Lauren Smith defeated Germany’s Goliszweski/ Nette, who beat them in the Brazil Open final earlier that year. They were aware of the task ahead.
- We said that at this point they were better. We talked about our mistakes and tried to change it.
They were able to tie up the title with a 21-7, 21-15 victory. Winning their first Grand Prix title was a big stepping stone, and there was obvious relief after the disappointment from Brazil.
- We were happy because it was our first Grand Prix title. We knew that were going in the right direction.
Strong, stable and secure
The pair say that travelling to Scotland is always positive after all the good memories. They were able to back this up two years ago in 2018. This year they were up against a couple of strong French pairs in the latter stages.
In the semifinal, there was a tight 21-18, 21-17 match against fourth seeds Delphine Delrue/ Lea Palermo. Stefani Stoeva reveals that they had something else on their mind during this match.
- Gabi had an injury at that time, so we were only thinking to keep her knee safe. So we are very happy that we won the tournament with this injury of Gabi's.
Perhaps a little hesitant in the semifinal, the final posed arguably the stronger French pair, third seeds Emilie Lefel/ Anne Tran, who had knocked out the second seeds, Piek/ Seinen, in their semifinal.
Despite this, they delivered a very dominant 21-16, 21-9 win. Speaking about how they felt about this win, the Stoevas stated.
- With this win, we became strong, stable and secure in the knowledge that we could change our game when needed. We became more experienced.