BWF Worlds: Displaced by war, Yevheniia and Polina keep Ukraine's flag flying high
Ukrainian badminton players Yevheniia Kantemyr and Polina Buhrova are competing at the BWF World Championships while displaced by the ongoing war. The athletes share their experiences of training under conflict and the emotional toll of the Russian invasion.
Why it matters
The story provides a human-interest perspective on how the war in Ukraine continues to impact the lives and careers of professional athletes.
NEW DELHI: Yevheniia Kantemyr was 16 and nursing a knee injury when Russian bombs rained down on her native city of Kharkiv in Ukraine. As the situation went from bad to worse, many in this city of 1.42 million inhabitants were forced to flee, including Kantemyr and her family.Now, her mother and brother live 1,400 kilometres away in Slovakia. The 21-year-old, though, first moved to France and then Italy to aid her badminton career.Her women's doubles partner, Polina Buhrova, has the same story.Buhrova was playing at the national championships when the war began in 2022.
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