For Ukrainian shuttlers Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr, competing at the ongoing World Championships in New Delhi is a way to showcase the resilience of a country battling its invasion by Russia.
Lives have been turned upside down since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and, as for many of her compatriots, the conflict remains an everyday reality for Buhrova.
“It’s still really, really bad,” the Kharkiv-born player told reporters.
“It’s really hard, but that also gives me a lot of power and I’m really proud to represent my country as a fighter, and show how Ukraine is fighting, believing and growing.”
Buhrova said elite training had become impossible in Ukraine, forcing the national squad to find a base in Italy.
“When the war started, I was in Ukraine,” she said. “We were practising under the bombs. An alarm would go and you needed to throw everything on the floor and run to the shelter.”
Her doubles partner Kantemyr, who left Ukraine as a teenager and is also now based in Italy, said being able to compete internationally carried added significance.