Badminton Europe magazine 22 (March)

Page 21

CO N TE PORTR AN ITT

2015 – MULTIPLE WI NS WITH A HINT OF CHANGE IN A PERFECT YEAR. While the Stoeva sister spent more time on the top of the podium in 2015 the year itself was not without some changes to their team. For many years the girls had been working with Gunther Huber, the German who guided them to all their success’s. All parties agreed to go their separate ways at the end of their existing contract in the Autumn of 2015 with Huber now moving to take over coaching at the Turkish federation in preparation for the Europeans and Olympics 2016. Even with the winds of change from a personnel perspective 2015 proved to be a glorious year for the Stoeva’s in what they themselves describe as the perfect year. “We can look back at 2015 as being almost perfect. Baku really set things rolling and our first Super Series quarter final soon followed and ten win in total is hard to describe as anything but almost perfect”

RIO ON THE HORIZON With 2015 now but a memory the exploits of last year have set the Stoeva sisters well on their way to qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio this coming summer. At number 17 in the world (at time of writing) and number 10 in the rankings on the road to Rio the Stoeva’s can start to taste the Brazilian air with just 6 months to go. Not ones to rest on their laurels the sisters want to chase a seeded position but know this is the next big step for them as a pair. “Rio is looking good at this stage but right now we are outside the seeding positions for the Olympics. It would be great to get a seeding but to do that we will need to be inside the world’s top 10 so more work and improvement is required.”

BADMINTON EUROPE

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