BEC “Center of Excellence” player Milan Dratva (Slovakia), who is currently ranked no. 231, talked about his ambitions and future plans with Badminton Europe. The Slovakian is aiming for higher positions to be able to reach his goal of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games. This week, Dratva along with five other COE players will perform in Azerbaijan Challenge.
-For the next four months I am aiming to improve my ranking and I’m confident I can do well and win some tournaments.
-I am in the middle of a process where quality in trainings comes first. Believe in the process and results will come naturally.
Three weeks ago Dratva participated in Sudirman cup in Nanning, China as part of team Slovakia.
-World Championships is one of the highlights of an athlete’s career. Obviously I looked forward to it and it filled all my expectations in terms of organization and setup.
-Going there right after recovering from an injury I didn’t have high hopes about my game and I am happy that after a shaky start I could get close to my standard as the tournament progressed.
Current standings
In the men’s singles world ranking list Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) is standing on position no. 3 for the ninth consecutive week. The Danes Anders Antonsen and Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus are following Viktor on positions no. 13 and no. 23 respectively.
Spain’s Carolina Marin (no. 8) is leading Europe’s women’s singles, with Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt and Mia Blichfeldt following her on positions no. 20 and no. 21 respectively.
On the men’s doubles world ranking list Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark) are standing on position no. 8.
Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva (Bulgaria) are the highest ranked European pair in women’s doubles world ranking list.
The mixed doubles world ranking list has Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (England) and Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith (England) on positions no. 10 and no. 11.