Turkey is undoubtedly an emerging badminton nation, especially when looking at the sharp upward trajectory of the women. Nazlıcan İnci, the 2018 European Junior Championship women’s doubles gold medallist has some big future goals. 

For several years, women’s singles been proven at the top level, with the Turkish trio of Yiğit, Demirbag and Bayrak all in the top 100 in the world. This makes them quite formidable opponents in team events. However, there was always a thought in the back of fans minds, what if they strengthened their doubles group, then they can really fight for medals. That ‘what if’ has suddenly been shifted to a ‘when’. 

Nazlıcan İnci and Bengisu Erçetin, 20 and 19 respectively, won the gold at the European juniors in 2018, defeating Danes Magelund and Ravn in the final, 14-21, 21-17, 21-17. Since then, they really kicked on in 2019, featuring in four tournament finals, winning the Turkey and Bulgarian Open. In 2020, they looked to step up another gear and reached the Austrian Open final, putting in a solid display against the strong Japanese pair of Yasaki and Yokoyama. 

This rapid development of Turkish women has been profound. Commenting on this, İnci, who is now ranked 43 in the world, tries to explain it by saying.

- We work hard like everybody. But our federation sends female athletes to more matches. We also have successful male athletes, but our federation makes the decisions.

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Believe in ourselves

There is a lot for Turkish fans to be excited about as there is a feeling this group of young talented women can make their mark in badminton history in the years to come. İnci balances her studies with her sporting life but is very clear on what her ultimate goal is and what it takes to get there. 

- My big goal is going to the Olympic games like every player. We need to work harder to beat the best, and we need to be psychologically strong and believe in ourselves.