Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva are sisters in life and partners on court. The women’s double spoke with Badminton Europe about its goals and ambitions for the rest of the year.
Galabovo and Haskovo, those are the places where Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva were born. The Bulgarian sisters are currently ranked 12th in the world in women’s doubles. About a week ago, the pair came back from Asia, where they participated in the Japan and China Open.
Following the right path
Both tournaments that are part of the BWF World Tour went well for the double’s sisters: They reached the quarter finals in Japan and the semi-finals in China. A good achievement, according to Stefani Stoeva:
- We achieved good results in those two Asian tournaments. We are very happy with that, but we will not stop to improve now. We can see that we are on the right path and we will continue to work hard.
Earlier this year, the Bulgarian pair won the European Championships in Huelva. In August, the women’s double won the Eurasia Bulgarian Open Championship in their home country.
“We have to be patient”
However, the sisters did not win a title in Asia yet:
- Winning super series is always tough, one must be very good prepared to win. I think we can achieve a title in an Asian tournament soon, we just have to be patient.
To prepare for tournaments and matches, Stefani who is five centimetres taller than her older sister, Gabriela, explains their ritual for each match:
- Gabriela and I are wearing the same colours in every round.
First Asia, then Europe
After returning from Asia, Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva have a tough schedule in Europe. The next tournaments where the pair participates in, are the Dutch, Denmark and French Open.
Both sisters are living in Paris. Compared to Asia, the double does not have to travel that far this time.
- It is tough to play three or more tournaments in a row, but we can manage that because all of them are taking place in Europe.
- We are thinking from match to match and focus on that. Of course, we can win but we can also loose.
Ambitions for the rest of the year
Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva are ambitious. The women’s double has long-term goals, at least for the rest of the year:
- Our goal is to qualify for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in December. Therefore, we want to be in the Top 5 and intend to win super series titles.