Linda Zetchiri's sports career is far from traditional. When she was 15 a Danish coach discovered her talent for badminton and so, the young girl left her parents' home to go to Denmark all by herself. But how did the “Zetchiri” fairytale begin? We talk to Linda and Gemma, her manager, closest friend, or just sister, the person who has stood by her side unfailingly, through all of the more than 140 competitions in her sporting career, but also in life:

“It all started as a game in our childhood. Every time we went on a family holiday we would play “federball”. That was when I fell in love with badminton as a sport,” says Linda, born in 1987.

“There was usually a prize too - a bottle of lemonade. That stimulated the kind of rivalry between us that perhaps helped her evolve psychologically to a national level, to become a top European player,” says Gemma.

The decision to leave her country so young was not an easy one for Linda but:

“From a very early age, ever since the first competitions I have taken part in in Bulgaria, I have been really motivated to one day find a place next to the top badminton players of the world. I have always been fond of sports and that is what has pushed me to make all of these decisions. The step I took when I was 15 was no easy thing, but was only natural for me if I wanted to make my childhood dream come true. To begin with it was difficult, but if one aims high, if one has dreams, one does not brood on the difficulties, one thinks of the challenges.”

After five successful years in Denmark, Linda suffered a severe injury and had to have surgery - she had part of her knee joint cartilage removed. She returned to Bulgaria and though doctors were not optimistic, she found the strength - physically and psychologically to cope and to go on.

“What helps me in difficult times is the goal I have set myself and the will to follow my dream. I regard any obstacle along the way as something that just had to have happened, as a good thing. I have always tried to get the best out of even the worst moments,” says Linda Zetchiri.

The unusual name Zetchiri comes from her father - half ethnic Albanian and half Italian. Nonetheless, Linda says she was raised as 110 percent Bulgarian and that she has inherited the Bulgarian fighting spirit. She has been invited to compete for other countries on more than one occasion. But she has always declined because:

“I think there is a right place for each one of us,” Linda explains. “And I have never felt an inner need to represent any other nation. In sports, as in so many other things, one has to compete with heart and soul for the country one is representing, otherwise things just won't turn out right. I have always preferred to put my whole heart into the things I do.”

Today Linda is 38th in the world badminton rankings, though her best achievement has been 26th. She has many medals to her name. But which was her most difficult victory?

“Perhaps the most difficult victory I have had was just a few months ago,” Linda says. “With my team-mates from Bulgaria we took part in the European team championships. After a dramatic semi-finals match, we reached the finals, where my partner and I (I usually compete in the singles, but in this case I was playing in the doubles) we played the crucial match against Spain with the current world champion. The result at that time was 2-2 and whether we would qualify for the finals hung on the match versus Spain. And we pulled it off. That was one of the most difficult and spectacular victories for me.”

That was how in February Bulgaria won the historic silver in the European team championships in Kazan, Russia. This has been the most successful year in Linda's career and she is now working hard to prepare for the Olympics in Rio. She will be one of three players representing Bulgaria at this spectacular sporting forum.

“So far my training for the Rio Olympics has been going very well - physically, psychologically, technically. I am looking forward to the games very much. I know I can beat absolutely any competitor on the planet. I am expecting to perform very well and I hope to win a medal for Bulgaria,” says Bulgaria's No. 1 badminton player Linda Zetchiri.

English version: Milena Daynova