Badminton Europe (BEC) President, Peter Tarcala, looks back at 2021.

Once again, it is time to change the page of the calendar. 2021 is almost in the books, and with the COVID-19 pandemic still playing a role in most aspects of life, the Badminton Europe President, Peter Tarcala looks back at 2021 with mixed feelings.

- It was not an easy year with the world pandemic, unfortunately. It was difficult to run all the activities that we had been planning. We lost registered players around Europe, which is obviously not a good thing, but I hope we can come back with original numbers.

- At the same time, we were quite successful in organising events and development projects, Tarcala stated.

Pleased with Kyiv 2021
The BEC President has been travelling as much as the pandemic allowed him to.

- I am very pleased that we got the opportunity to see the top European players travelling to Kyiv in spring for the European Championships.

- We had a few positive COVID-19 cases but, in general, I think the event was very well executed and the Ukrainian federation can still be proud of what they delivered. 

Important win for Europe
The postponed Olympics was for many reason the highlight of the year for the top European players. After an extra year of waiting, the European stars travelled to Tokyo, and Peter Tarcala will never forget the moment in which Viktor Axelsen celebrated his golden victory.

- The Olympic gold medal for Viktor Axelsen is definitely the biggest moment to remember from 2021.

- It was special for Viktor, of course, but also for Europe. It is important that we as a continent can challenge the Asians and win the big titles, and Viktor Axelsen showed us all that if you are dedicated, talented, and passionate, you have the chance to go all the way.

Historic moments
The COVID-19 pandemic has not allowed many tournaments to take place in Asia. Postponements and cancellations have been communicated by BWF on almost a weekly basis throughout the year but in the second part, European countries delivered three of the top events.

- It is a historic moment when the finals of the Sudirman Cup, the Thomas & Uber Cup, and the World Championships take place in Europe.

- It is not often that the big events are allocated to our continent, and I am very pleased to see that the Finnish, Danish, and Spanish federations delivered events on such a high level.

Promotion in focus
2022 is approaching and for Badminton Europe, the global focus of badminton is clear:

- Promotion of our game as much as possible is important but again, it all that depends on how the world pandemic progresses.

- It is not easy to focus and predict things as the pandemic is still here, so let’s focus on what we can do day by day.