The Olympics are important to most badminton players, and this also applies to Katerina Tomalova.
Katerina Tomalova from Czech Republic has been practicing at BEC's Centre of Excellence for a while and her main focus right now is to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
- I am not that close to qualify for the Olympics, but I am working hard on it and I am getting closer. I improved my ranking after the tournaments in Mexico and Guatemala. So, I am looking forward to playing more tournaments and getting more points.
Strong tournaments in Europe
In connection with the Olympics the tournaments in Europe are getting stronger, which means a lot of players have to travel far away to get the points for the rankings.
- I would be glad if I could play only tournaments in Europe and maybe just sometimes travel far away. The tournaments in Europe are very strong.
- I have to travel for the points, but on the other hand, I had the chance to visit new places and meet new people. So, I am excited about that, she mentioned.
Finding the resources
The players do not get a lot of money to finance their travels for the tournaments and Badminton Europe asked how Katerina Tomalova finds the resources to travel when the budgets are not that big.
- It is definitely not cheap and right now we are having a discussion with our federation. The conditions are really tough. We just received a budget, but it is not enough. It covers maybe two or three of these far away tournaments. So, we are all a little sad about the situation right now.
- I am trying to find another way, I play team matches here in Denmark and in Czech Republic. Also, I work as a marketing freelancer. From time to time I have to work and not just be on the court all the time. It is tough, but for the Olympics I think it is worth it, she replied.