New Delhi, For Misha Zilberman, following the international badminton calendar has sometimes meant looking beyond the sporting equation and figuring out where he can actually compete.
“Normally I’m an athlete and sportsman. His 14 World Championships appearances are complemented by four Olympic campaigns, yet he insists numbers are not what keep him travelling from tournament to tournament.
I don’t go inside the politics,” Zilberman said after making his 14th World Championships appearance in New Delhi. “No, I don’t think that it affects much now,” he said when asked about the impact of the difficulties.
That fire has been accompanied throughout his career by his mother Svetlana, a former Soviet player and 1986 European Championship bronze medallist, has been his coach and mentor, and one of the most important figures in his development. Their relationship goes beyond the conventional player-coach equation. Having worked together for years, she understands what he is trying to build on court and can recognise the small adjustments he needs during a match. “We know each other from the start. Her role is not limited to tactics.
When I play the match, she feels me, she understands my problems and what I’m trying to build,” Zilberman said. Zilberman said his mother also knows what to say when the speed of a badminton match makes it difficult for him to see the bigger picture. “She knows the correct things to tell me,” he said. “Sometimes you need to open in my mind some things that I don’t have during the match because it’s tactically a very fast game.”
