The Bulgarian sisters Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva are back in the top 10 of the world’s best women’s doubles. Badminton Europe sat down with them to have a chat about life on and off court. Article by Emma Lollike 1. Who is the best women’s doubles player right now? G: I think right now the best players are the Japanese, Takahashi and Matsutomu. They win most of the tournaments so for me this is currently the best double. S: I think the Chinese pair, Jia and Chen (Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan). To me, they are a good women’s doubles. They showed it in Glasgow at the World Championships and I’m really impressed because they are so young. I know them from the junior tournaments and I am impressed by how they are doing on the senior circuit but they are quite good. 2. Who was your badminton idol when you were growing up? G: I think especially for me it was the Chinese women’s doubles player Zhao Yunlei. I would watch her play live on the internet and I was very impressed by her net play and she
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12 SHOTS AT THE STOEVAS