KUALA LUMPUR: There is no sign of peace in home for the past 14 months, but Ukrainian para shuttler Oksana Kozyna
(pix) is not deterred to work hard towards her Paris 2024 Paralympics dream.
After creating history as the first Ukrainian to win a world championship title last year, the 28-year-old believes the SL3 (Standing/lower limb impairment/severe) women’s singles gold medal in Paris 2024 will be another prize within grasps.
Oksana and her teammates Olexandr Chyrkov, the 2018 European champion in men’s singles SL3 and women’s singles SH6 shuttler (Standing/short stature) Nina Kozlova are bent on achieving big in Paris, and were willing to travel over 8,000 km away from home to train in Malaysia since April 11.
“I want to win for the people of Ukraine, a great way to show the world that Ukrainians are very strong and we never give up. I believe that God want to help me to become a Paralympic champion, that’s why I am here (in Malaysia) even though we don’t have money, sponsors and government support. I am thanking God for giving me a choice to be here in Malaysia.
“It's very dangerous and difficult to resume training in Ukraine, we have air alarms all the time and sometimes face ballistic missiles threats. We also don’t get equipment and shuttle cocks due to the war,” Oksana told Bernama when met during training sessions in a court near Batu Caves here.
On November last year, shortly after her first training stint in Malaysia, Oksana created history as Ukraine’s first ever title winner in any Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships, defeating Turkiye’s Halime Yildiz 20-22, 21-18, 21-14 in the final.
The team in Malaysia now is under the guidance of former national coach Abdul Rani Jaafar to strengthen their skills before playing in Thailand Para Badminton International in Pattaya from May 9-14 and Bahrain Para Badminton International (May 17-23), two of many Paris 2024 qualifying tournaments to be held around the world.
To compete at the Paris Paralympics from Aug 29 to Sept 2, 2024, a player need to play in a minimum of three Race to Paris designated qualifying tournaments between Jan 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024 to collect ranking points.
Oksana, who is born with limb length discrepancy that requires her to use prosthetic in one leg, hopes the war in Ukraine would end soon, to allow peace and her country to return to normalcy.
“We feel very safe to be in Malaysia, but it is not the same for our family and fellow Ukrainians in home. I like the people, warm weather and food here, especially the Indian pancake,” she said referring to thosai.
Meanwhile, Ukraine Para Badminton president Dmytro Zozulia, who also serves as team manager and coach, said he used to have around 20 para shuttlers in Ukraine, including seven national players, before the war, but only five remained.
“After the war began, all were scattered around, running to different places to save their lives, I only managed to save five players, fortunately the best five. My hard work for five years, crushed just like that due to the war,” the disheartened man said.
“We moved to Lille, France since leaving Ukraine last year, and relying on funds from some organisations and individuals for training and competitions. But the players are very determined, I hope they can achieve it in Paris,” he said.
For Nina, it is crucial to get Paris qualification as this would be the first time her event will be contested in the Paralympics, after badminton made its debut as a medal sport in Tokyo 2020.
“We are proud to be here because in Malaysia, badminton is not just a game, it is a feeling, everyone plays badminton here. We learn a lot of skills, technics and tactics here, not just simply hitting...Like graduating from badminton school,” she said.-Bernama
