NEW DELHI: Yevheniia Kantemyr was 16 and nursing a knee injury when Russian bombs rained down on her native city of Kharkiv in Ukraine. As the situation went from bad to worse, many in this city of 1.42 million inhabitants were forced to flee, including Kantemyr and her family.Now, her mother and brother live 1,400 kilometres away in Slovakia. The 21-year-old, though, first moved to France and then Italy to aid her badminton career.Her women’s doubles partner, Polina Buhrova, has the same story.Buhrova was playing at the national championships when the war began in 2022. In the immediate aftermath, as the country grappled with the sheer volume of attacks, they practised under bombs and were required to take shelter every time the alarm went off.
“The situation in Kyiv, in the capital, is terrible and my home is safe, but it’s a very bad situation now, and it’s not getting better after four years already.
Yevheniia Kantemyr
Also from Kharkiv, the 22-year-old has been displaced from home and has travelled across Thailand, Malaysia, Denmark and now Italy to establish a training base.It has now been four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. With talks frozen and frontline fighting stalled, the two countries have ramped up their long-range attacks. This has resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, with civilians affected most.“The situation in Kyiv, in the capital, is terrible and my home is safe, but it’s a very bad situation now, and it’s not getting better after four years already. So it’s very sad and frustrating,” said Kantemyr after her women’s singles first-round win at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi.At the start of the war, Buhrova reveals that she and her compatriots had their bags packed to run if the situation worsened. Unluckily for her, the bombs came down on the building next to theirs and, with the support of her ex-coach, she got out of there alive. The scars of that “terrible feeling” linger, and she hopes “nobody lives through it.”
It’s really hard for me, but that also gives me a lot of power, and I’m really proud to represent my country as a fighter and to show how Ukraine is fighting, believing and growing.
Polina Buhrova
Buhrova, a two-time Ukrainian national champion, wears the flag now as a badge of honour beyond her individual dreams. “It’s really hard for me, but that also gives me a lot of power, and I’m really proud to represent my country as a fighter and to show how Ukraine is fighting, believing and growing,” said the Ukrainian after posting a three-set win in her first women’s singles match.Neither got into badminton as their first choice.Kantemyr was into synchronised swimming, while Buhrova was a pianist, dancer and singer. Her teacher urged her to take up a sport to look good on stage. As it turned out, she completed art school but stuck with badminton as a career choice.“I was studying in art school, and I was a pianist, playing piano, dancing, and singing. But I was a fat baby, and my piano teacher said I don’t look so nice on the stage, because I was playing really well, and if I also looked a bit better, it would be nicer for the audience, the spectators and judges,” said Buhrova.“So they sent me to any sport we had in the school, and it was badminton. That’s why I started badminton, and then somehow I ended up fully in badminton, not in music anymore,” she said with a laugh.
‘Russian athletes should stay in their beautiful homes’
Even as they focus on badminton on court, the ramifications of the war don’t go away. Kantemyr has not been back home since the war began and meets her family only twice a year. Buhrova, meanwhile, speaks to her mother, cousins and the rest via the internet. But patchy connections don’t make things easy.The duo share the locker room with Russians as well. The men’s doubles team of Rodion Alimov and Maksim Ogloblin have also qualified for the BWF World Championships, albeit they play under a neutral flag.
Don’t allow Russian athletes to play. That was a big mistake, to allow them to participate.
Yevheniia Kantemyr
In the past couple of months, some sports and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have begun easing restrictions on Russians. A decision that doesn’t sit well with the duo.“Don’t allow Russian athletes to play. That was a big mistake, to allow them to participate,” said Kantemyr. “You don’t know what those athletes have done, because some of them were posting things on social media too. It’s not nice,” she continued.Buhrova was equally categorical.“I would give everything in my heart (when facing Russia). But I really wish that it would not happen, because I think it’s unfair that Russian athletes are playing, even without the flag or whatever. I think they should stay in their beautiful home, and just say thank you to their great government and all the people there,” she said defiantly.
