Badminton Europe is proud to release a badminton documentary - A Championship During COVID-19. It’s a short documentary film which aims to capture a unique moment for the love of badminton.
Life was turned upside down by COVID-19. Borders were closed, day to day life changed, loved ones were held closer and badminton stopped.
It may seem like a distant and blurry memory now, but this was the reality of the situation for our sport. Health came first. There was an understanding and acceptance of this – but the road was always going to be long, and one thing was known for sure, future tournaments would look completely different.
Capturing this moment
For Badminton Europe, the freezing of the tournament calendar meant postponements and cancellations of our events. It was a tough time for all staff and in the face of adversity, everyone rallied together as best they could. Adaptation and perseverance were key if we were going to be able to organise a tournament under the many new restrictions.
In early 2021, the idea of capturing this moment was put forward by Laura Marti Diez, BEC Video & Graphic Design Officer. The idea blossomed into a full-fledged project targeting the upcoming 2021 European Mixed Team Championships in Finland.
-This was an amazing opportunity to do something different that I truly enjoyed working on. It definitely brought us closer together as colleagues. We were able to express ourselves through a process that challenged us professionally on a whole new level, said Laura Marti.
Badminton Europe felt it was important to document all the work that goes on behind-the-scenes to make a major tournament happen during a pandemic. A tournament that like all tournaments was never certain to take place!
It was touch and go
The tournament of course did take place in the end and the documentary captured it all. You get to see what it means for players to be playing again, however, it was not all plain sailing and the events team and local organisers had to deal with many situations that were touch and go whether teams would be disqualified and even if the tournament could carry on. In amongst the drama, some big calls needed to be made under significant pressure. Watch to find out how it played out.
It is a must-watch sports documentary for anyone who wants to see the incredible effort that made the return of the first major badminton event on European soil possible.
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