TOKYO: Mum’s the word for 64-year-old badminton braveheart Svetlana Zilberman as she rolls back the years and breaks records alongside her son Misha at the world championships in Tokyo.
At 25, Belarus-born Svetlana was considered too old to be picked for the Soviet Union’s team for the championships when she was in the prime of her career.
Now, almost four decades later, she is playing on the sport’s highest stage and became the competition’s oldest-ever winner when she and Misha won their first-round mixed doubles match on Monday.
“They said I was old when I was 25 — now I am a young woman,” Svetlana told AFP on Tuesday.
Svetlana became the oldest player to win a world championship match when she and 33-year-old Misha beat Egypt’s Adham Hatem Elgamal and Doha Hany 16-21, 21-18, 21-11.
The next player on the list is almost 20 years younger and Svetlana says she may even be back to try to update her record at next year’s tournament in Copenhagen.
“I’m still not tired from playing,…
At 25, Belarus-born Svetlana was considered too old to be picked for the Soviet Union’s team for the championships when she was in the prime of her career.
Now, almost four decades later, she is playing on the sport’s highest stage and became the competition’s oldest-ever winner when she and Misha won their first-round mixed doubles match on Monday.
“They said I was old when I was 25 — now I am a young woman,” Svetlana told AFP on Tuesday.
Svetlana became the oldest player to win a world championship match when she and 33-year-old Misha beat Egypt’s Adham Hatem Elgamal and Doha Hany 16-21, 21-18, 21-11.
The next player on the list is almost 20 years younger and Svetlana says she may even be back to try to update her record at next year’s tournament in Copenhagen.
“I’m still not tired from playing,…