If it wasn’t for her father taking to a Decathlon store one Sunday in Timisoara, Romania, Cristina Sirbu surmises, she might still have taken up badminton, but perhaps much later. She was an active child, already into other sports like tennis, basketball and swimming.
As it turned out, what was just another active day at the store in 2013 would eventually lead her to become European U15 champion nine years later. It was further affirmation, if any was needed, of the vital role Shuttle Time has played in the development of badminton in Romania.
“I used to go to the (Decathlon) store pretty often because there were lots of activities you could do as a kid,” Sirbu recalls. “You could ride a bike, or jump on the trampoline or do whatever you wanted. My father used to take me there because I loved it. So when I went there in 2013 there was this event where some badminton players were showing off (laughs) and I really liked what I saw.
“I was shy to ask. They were the ones that asked me to play. My sister was with me and we tried it, and I loved it. I’d tried lots of sports, but I’d never felt the same as I did when I played badminton. I just felt it’s for me. I was pretty good.”
The Shuttle Time activity at the store had happened as a promotion alongside an international tournament in the city of Timisoara.
Cristina Sirbu (in red circle) at the Shuttle Time in Decathlon Store in Timisoara 2013
A year earlier, the seed of Shuttle Time was planted in Romania with Corina Florentina Dan, now the National Shuttle Time Coordinator of Romania, having joined a Tutors’ course in Sweden to train under Joanne Hughes.
“We knew that kids were coming to the store to play all kinds of sports, and we put a court there and our national U17 champions were there to play with whoever wanted to join,” recalls Dan. “It was the right moment and the right place for Cristina to arrive. She was not even six years old then, and her father was filming her with the other players.”
A couple of years later, Sirbu won her first national title. “That’s when I started taking this more seriously, because I realised that I’m actually good, and I trained better,” Sirbu recalls. “My father tried taking me to tennis because he’s a tennis player, but I didn’t like it as much as badminton. He still supported me, and he played with me when I was at home.” That would eventually lead to her becoming women’s doubles champion (with Daria-Irina Gherasim) at the European U15 Championships 2022 in Ibiza.
“I didn’t expect to win,” recalls Sirbu. “When I went to Ibiza the first game was the most stressful. We almost lost. But then after each win, I started gaining more confidence, so it just happened. After I won the European title, I started training more and more, to be able to get that winning feeling again.”
Daria Irina GHERASIM (right) & Cristina Maria SIRBU (left) won the Women's Doubles European U15 Championships 2022 in Ibiza.
Following that first Shuttle Time activity, there was an explosion of interest in schools. Dan conducted the first Teachers course in Romania in January 2013. Several schools expressed interest; by June 2013, 16 schools had signed up.
The numbers kept growing – 70 schools in 22 counties (February 2014); 119 schools in 27 counties (October 2014); 159 schools in 29 counties (February 2015).
“We held Teachers and Tutors courses during that time. It was very good that Badminton Europe was sharing rackets, shuttles and some nets to gift to these school kids. And the teachers at our Teachers courses got a kit.
“The players who were joining these Shuttle Time tournaments were able to join clubs, and they were then able to train and to go to national tournaments. This is the aim of Shuttle Time as well, to gather kids from all over and to ease the way to club, and then to play badminton at a higher level, at the national level, and then also international level,” says Dan.
The momentum slowed down during the Covid-19 pandemic, but Dan is keen for the spark to be reignited. And with the example of Cristina Sirbu’s European title, there is greater hope for the future of Shuttle Time and badminton in Romania.
