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Humans of Shuttle Time: Alžbeta Peruňská

TEXT BY BWF STAFF | PHOTO COURTESY: WORLD INTERUNIVERSITIES CHAMPIONSHIPS

This is the 58th story in our Humans of Shuttle Time series, in which we present the perspectives of those who are involved with badminton at the grassroots level. Alžbeta Peruňská, Shuttle Time Tutor with Slovak Badminton Federation, speaks about her journey in badminton.

Childhood Years

I’ve lived in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, since I was born. I had a very nice childhood, my parents always took care of me and spent quality time with me and my older sister watching or reading fairytales, talking about our dreams, and playing table games together. My parents led me to be active and introduced me to different sports before I chose to concentrate on badminton. I chose the school where I wanted to study, and my parents have always supported me.

Tryst with Badminton

I do not remember when and where I first saw badminton, but I think my parents showed it to me when we went to play badminton together at the meadow near our house. I was around 7 that time.

When I was playing badminton as a child, we always simply wanted to keep the shuttle going as much times as possible without falling. It was fun trying to make the longest rally and I think our record with my father was around 200 hits.

Perunska with the Slovak team

Relationship with Badminton

When I was 9, my parents signed me up at a badminton club in Bratislava because I really liked to play badminton, and I started to practise regularly. My coach saw potential in me and encouraged me to train and participate in Slovak tournaments. I started to take badminton seriously. It was not only a hobby anymore, but my priority and responsibility to work on myself to be better and better. I sacrificed all my free time for badminton, but I have never regretted it. One of my biggest achievements was participation in the national team, five wins at Slovak Championships, and participation in European championships. My goal was also to participate in the Olympic Games and World Championships, but because of my knee injury at the age of 17, I was not able to play at high level anymore. It was the most heartbreaking moment of my badminton career, but I have never stopped loving this sport, and it is still an indispensable part of my life. Thanks to badminton I have learnt how to win and lose, and how to be patient and not to give up.

Memorable Events

The most memorable moment was winning the first title in women’s doubles U17 and in women’s singles U19. We really worked hard to achieve that, and I will never forget that feeling after winning match point. What is also important for me is that I met one of my best friends through badminton, we went through several ups and downs together in the sport and it made our friendship even stronger, and we are very good friends until this day.

What Badminton Means

Badminton is still my passion, and it is part of my daily life. Currently, I work as a coach, so I am very grateful that I can support other people make progress and achieve their badminton goals by sharing my own knowledge and experience. In addition, I still participate in Slovak tournaments and Slovak extra league.

Perunska (right) with a teammate

Developing Badminton in the Community

In Bratislava, there are many hobby badminton players who are attracted to badminton and most of them want to improve their game. The badminton halls are always crowded, and it is nice to see that there is a huge interest. There are many badminton clubs for children. Children from the clubs are also very passionate about badminton and competitive, so there is a big potential for coaches to help them becoming professionals. Moreover, when I was playing as a child, parents created their own community and started playing badminton together too.

Impact of Shuttle Time in Slovakia

Due to Shuttle Time courses, teachers enjoyed learning new things and specific technique about badminton and with the broadened knowledge, they became more confident and encouraged to start badminton lessons in schools. Some of them even invested in new badminton equipment. It also obvious that more and more children want to play badminton in their free time.

Lessons from Shuttle Time

The biggest lesson I have learnt from working with Shuttle Time is that it is important to share knowledge and especially know how to make the sport interesting, fun and competitive at the same time, and also to introduce it to as many children as possible, because they love to move and badminton offers them many occasions to improve in movement, thinking and building their personality.

Previous Stories in This Series

Humans of Shuttle Time: Yacin Mahmoud Ali

Humans of Shuttle Time: Asylbek uulu Meerbek

Humans of Shuttle Time: Anil Seepaul

Humans of Shuttle Time: Kazadi Kazadi Joel

Humans of Shuttle Time: Wilma Tupu

Humans of Shuttle Time: Laia Oset Moncho

Humans of Shuttle Time: Aisarova Jasmin

Humans of Shuttle Time: Saygufron Davletov

Humans of Shuttle Time: Rafael Lora

Humans of Shuttle Time: Graham Berry

Humans of Shuttle Time: Alaa Mohamed Youssef Fathy