Bulgarian shuttler, Alex Vlaar, ranked 87 in the world in mixed doubles has made his mark on European badminton. But do you know which country he represented at junior level?

The answer is the Netherlands. Vlaar, 23, was born in Lelystad, and wore the Dutch flag on his chest at the 2014 World Junior Championships, advancing in the boys' and mixed doubles to the third round with long-time partner Ruben Jille and Imke van der Aar, respectively. In addition, he travelled to Nanjing, China, and participated in the Youth Olympic Games in the orange colours. 

Vlaar has re-nationalised and now represents Bulgaria. Speaking on this move, Vlaar explains. 

- After the Youth Olympics, I wanted to continue in singles. Since there were many good players in and around the top 100, thinking about Mark Caljouw, Nick Fransman and Erik Meijs (RIP), the chance for me to play the big events was low. My mother is from Bulgaria, so I have automatically two nationalities. Playing for Bulgaria gave me more opportunities to qualify for the big events. That was the reason for me to switch.

A question that Vlaar has been asked many times following the switch – does he feel more Bulgarian or Dutch? His response to this is. 

- I feel equally Dutch as Bulgarian. I have been coming to Bulgaria since I was a baby and whenever I come back to Sofia everything feels very natural. I know the way, so it feels like my second home.

Read: Mathias Boe retires from his impressive career

New partnership

Vlaar, together with Mariya Mitsova, are by a clear margin Bulgaria’s top mixed doubles pairing. However, in 2020 we have seen Vlaar team up with Peyo Boichinov in the men’s doubles. Shedding some light on this change, he states. 

- Since Mariya decided to focus on her singles, I had to look for something else. There were some issues with the coach of my former doubles partner, so Peyo Boichinov and I started to talk about a partnership, and we saw some good opportunities.

Mitsova is in a mightily close battle with teammate Linda Zetchiri to book her spot at the Olympics for the singles. In the Race to Tokyo rankings, Mitsova is ahead by the minute amount of just a little over 100 points. 

Adapting to this, Vlaar is clear on what he and his new partner need to do to begin competing with the very best. 

- We must play many tournaments to get the results we need and try to keep improving our game. For now the plan is to stay healthy. Because of the current situation it is very hard to stay fit. I will keep doing all kinds of different stuff to keep my body in shape. When we can go back to the badminton hall together with my coach Dimitria Popstoykova we will make a plan for the upcoming tournaments.