With the European Championships just around the corner, we take a closer look at how Katerina Tomalova prepares for the big events coming up in this busy year.

The queen of women’s singles and number one Czech player hails from the small city of Ostrava in the northeast of the Central European country. The 28-year-old has delivered some rather impressive performances in the last few tournaments.

Battling it up against some of the world’s top players, Tomalova has been fighting for those points in the lead up to Tokyo, currently ranking 101 in the World’s women’s singles list. Even after her most recent defeat against the young and talented Line Christophersen in the 2021 Orléans Masters, the Czech star has been training hard with her attention aimed at complete success.

It’s all about getting one’s head in the game 

After seven long months of waiting for the heads up to start competing again, Katerina Tomalova stepped into the 2020 Bulgarian International Championship with a positive outlook on what was to come. The key to success lies many times on the power of focus, and the badminton player knows well how vital it is to any performance on court. When asked about who her hardest opponent was some months ago, Tomalova pointed at Europe’s runner up Mia Blichfeldt.

-Last time I played against her at the European Games and she was so focused on every single shot. She didn’t give me any opportunity to win easily, Tomalova said.

The weight that the ability to concentrate has on every aspect of the game is no secret to Katerina Tomalova. One of the things that she highlights about training at the Centre of Excellence is how the players onsite, which she describes as an international community, are extremely focused on the same objectives. 

Preparation is the key to success

Katerina Tomalova knows she needs to train hard to stay on top of her game. With no national badminton training centres in the Czech Republic, she found it difficult to strike a suitable location to thrive as she would have wanted. With iconic players Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei as her childhood idols, she clearly knows what she wants to get, so the ambitious player found in the Centre of Excellence, not just the facilities she was looking for, but also a place of inspiration.

-The centre has improved a lot in the last year. There are more girls so it’s really good that we now have a strong group of women singles players, Tomalova affirmed.

Her daily routine is mainly based on training sessions and the occasional escape to the sauna and swimming pool, but gathering around for dinner with the other players in the centre is an important part of her everyday life. After all, life’s not just about the game, and she longs for relaxation and delicious food by the sea in the warm weather of an idyllic holiday destination, as well as unwinding from time to time, perhaps watching her favorite movie, Matrix.

-I’ve watched it so many times, and it’s interesting, when the movie was filmed it was kind of an interesting new topic, explained Tomalova.

So just like in the film where the connection between brain, mind and body plays such an important part in the overall succession of events, Katerina Tomalova understands the potential that focus has on her physical performance in order to succeed, and the European Championships are a great opportunity to do so.

The 2021 European Championships will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine from 27 April to 2 May. For more information about the 2021 European Championships, click here. 

All matches can be watched here.