It can be tough to think about the future.

It has been a year with ups and downs for Mariya Mitsova. 2019 showed good results for the 23-year old, and at the European Games, she reached the quarterfinals alongside partner Alex Vlaar.

It was at the European Games that Mitsova revealed in an interview with Badminton Europe that she was under pressure financially. Nine months later, the clouds are less dark around the Bulgarian women’s singles player.

- The economic situation is now definitely better. Our federation is constantly trying to find a way to help us in our journey to the Olympic Games and this gives me a little more calmness. I have an opportunity to fully focus on training and not on continuously trying to find funding, Mitsova stated.

The scary future
Being only 23, there is still many more matches to come for Mitsova, but at the same time, she admits that she has already been thinking about the time where it is no longer possible to walk on court playing on the international level.

- I would lie if I said that I have not thought about the day I step off court. It kind of scares me a bit. I am not sure what I will do, but I feel like I would want to see life outside of sports and try to succeed in a different area as I am always eager to learn more and to enrich myself in any possible way, Mitsova stated.

- I am not saying I will be totally outside of badminton, but I think I will definitely try building something else, she added.

Aiming for the top
After the biggest event in 2019, Mitsova chose to step away from the mixed doubles, focusing on the Olympic qualification in women’s singles, and that is still the plan. However, Mitsova and Vlaar have decided to continue playing in two categories if they qualify for the bigger events.

- I am still fully focused on my singles, but whenever there is a World or European Championship on the table, Alex and I agreed to take part together, Mariya Mitsova said.

- My big goal is to become one of the top players in women’s singles, but I am taking it step by step and my short-term goal is to improve my game with every training and to slowly climb the world ranking so that I can see where my actual limit is.

Mariya Mitsova won her first international women’s singles title back in 2016, where she beat the French Olivia Meunier in the Hellas International final – a tournament she also won in 2019.