It had taken Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar the better part of two days to make the journey from Lima, Peru, to New Delhi for the BWF World Championships.
I asked for my family to support me... because it’s the World Championships.
But he was so happy for me when I qualified for the World Championships,” she says.
47 in 2024 and went on to qualify for the Paris Olympics, wishes the World Championships followed a similar format.
Next year, if I qualify for the World Championships, I’ll do this again,” she says.
It had taken Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar the better part of two days to make the journey from Lima, Peru, to New Delhi for the BWF World Championships. The journey, she says, covered 20,000 kilometres, involved three separate flights and took her across four continents. It also required her family to raise money simply to give her the chance to compete at one of badminton’s biggest events.
On Monday night, in 26 minutes, Castillo’s tournament was over.
Castillo put up a fight against Indonesia’s Thalita Ramadhani before eventually going down 20-22, 7-21. She trudged off the court at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, still bleary-eyed and jet-lagged, having to make sense of it all.
“It’s so frustrating. To come all this way and then this is how it ends. Sometimes you wonder if it’s worth it? But at the same time this is the World Championships. I knew I had a tough draw. But I was still hoping I could find a way to win. But I didn’t play well enough,” she says.
In New Delhi, Castillo was not the only player trying to sort out conflicting emotions.
In a week, the World Championships will celebrate its winners. For badminton’s elite, the tournament is the climax of the season. Then there are those further down the rankings: players who fund themselves, work jobs between tournaments, train thousands of kilometres from home and travel across continents for the chance to play one of the best in the world.
They step onto the main court under bright lights. If they are lucky, they hear the roar of a crowd that barely knows their names. After months of training, days of travel and endless personal strain, the moment arrives and passes in a flash.
Even before stepping onto the court, every athlete must navigate an obstacle course of distance, debt and complicated logistics.
“To tell you the truth, I almost didn’t come because it was very, very expensive. And of course, it’s very far. But I made an effort. I asked for my family to support me... because it’s the World Championships. You don’t want to miss the World Championships. Just the flight tickets come to 2,000 USD,” says the 26-year-old.
Once the money was raised, she still had to compromise.
“I had the money to do either a training camp or the World Championships. I also couldn’t bring my coach or physical trainer here because it’s just too expensive. It’s really problematic to come to the World Championships without a coach or a physical trainer,” she says.
Many independent competitors feel that financial hurdle. Few travel with a coach. Australia’s Jazmine Lam, whose mother was sitting in the coaches’ chair, and her women’s doubles partner Yee-Yuan Lim faced a similar challenge ahead of their World Championships debut.
“Everything- accommodation, training is self-funded in Australia,” Lam says. “We both work part-time. I work at an accounting firm. All the money goes into the sport.”
Their expectations were grounded in reality, and their travel arrangements reflected it.
“We booked our tickets for Wednesday night. We didn’t expect to get very far! But we tried our best. We booked it in advance to save money,” Lam says after their 21-6, 21-13 loss to USA’s Francesca Corbett and Jennie Gai.
Veteran American Beiwen Zhang, who has spent two decades on the international circuit, knows the sport’s harsh economics all too well.
“We don’t really get any support... In the past, I wouldn’t have any money until September, so I had to play league badminton to make money to go for these tournaments,” says Zhang, who went down 21-12, 21-13 to China’s Wang Zhi Yi.
Like Lam and Lim, Zhang’s return flight was scheduled around practicality rather than optimism.
“I’m flying back to the USA on the 21st. It’s just a random day, and the ticket is pretty cheap! That’s the reason I booked on that day!” she says with a laugh.
For Brazilian player Jonathan Matias, the physical toll of travel was equally gruelling.
“It was a 48-hour journey over two days to get to India,” Matias recalls. “We left on Tuesday and arrived on Thursday night.”
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Beyond the financial strains, these players are bound together by humble beginnings and small local badminton communities.
On Monday, Castillo posted a story on her Instagram account mentioning the timing of her match, which was being broadcast on a single camera on YouTube.
“I think I would have got 20 viewers from Peru watching me. Another 10 might watch by accident. The sport is not very popular,” she admits.
In Egypt too, badminton struggles for space and relevance.
“The badminton community is not big,” women’s singles player Nour Youssri says. “We only have nine clubs and a total of three more in other cities.”
Seeking better facilities, she eventually relocated to Europe.
“Last year I moved to Paris for training. The journey has not been easy. I’ve also just graduated in computer science. I’ve started doing internships to balance my career,” she says.
Carrying more than a racket
When these athletes step onto the court, they carry far more than just their personal ambitions. They represent families, grief and entire nations facing adversity.
Nour, who had to win a bronze medal at the African Championships to qualify for the World Championships, almost withdrew from the tournament following a devastating personal loss.
Earlier this month, her father, Ahmed Youssri, died of cancer.
“I wasn’t going to come to the worlds because my father passed away just two weeks back. I wasn’t sure if I should come. But he was so happy for me when I qualified for the World Championships,” she says.
Nour was not disheartened by her 21-7, 21-5 defeat to Korea’s Kim Ga-eun.
“I did this for my father. I know he would be so proud of me,” she says.
For Ukrainian players Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr, competing is an act of resilience amid the war back home.
The pair went down 21-17, 21-12 to Malaysia’s Xin Yee Ong and Carmen Ting.
“The situation is quite bad there. We don’t live there now because it’s impossible to manage with our training and tournaments. We live in Italy instead,” Buhrova explains.
But it is impossible to keep the war far from their minds.
“My family is in Ukraine in Kharkiv. How can you feel normal when the bombs and drones are falling on your head? But we are trying to give our best and show that Ukraine is still fighting,” she says.
For Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr, competing is an act of resilience amid the war back home. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Making it to the Worlds is only part of the battle; the pressure of expectation can weigh just as heavily.
“I know my parents had to help me out with a lot of money. All this puts more pressure because I feel I have to justify this effort which [my family] are putting on me,” admits Castillo. “And it’s double because I ended up playing just the one match. That’s what makes it frustrating.”
Matias has also felt the need to justify his presence in Delhi.
“The Brazilian Federation had paid for my travel to India. They told me before I left that I need to start beating top players,” Matias says.
You might consider Matias unlucky. Three successive World Championships have given him three brutally difficult opening matches.
Last year, it was World No. 4, Anders Antonsen. The year before, World Champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn. This time, he went up against former World Junior Championships silver medallist Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia.
Facing the best
The frustration was understandable.
He had pushed Antonsen to 21-16, 21-15. Against Vitidsarn, he had led 16-14 in the opening game before losing. Against Leong too, he was competitive before going down 21-19, 21-15.
“I feel like I missed another opportunity. But it’s hard. I don’t get to face these players every day. I just have one opportunity to be really good,” he says.
But there is also a strange benefit to losing to players of that calibre.
“I feel it’s better to lose to the top 10 players rather than win against a top-100 player in some smaller tournament, since at least I know where I can improve. That’s why you play, right? To see how good you are?” he says.
For Matias, the danger is allowing the result to define the experience.
“I try to see the positives because if I focus on the outcomes I might feel bad and I’d end up quitting,” he says.
Each one of these players has a purpose in competing at this level, even when they know they are underdogs.
“I knew that it was going to be hard for me because I was going to be playing the sixth seed,” says Mikaela Joy De Guzman of the Philippines, who lost 21-12, 21-6 to sixth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani.
She has no regrets.
“I’m proud that I could take part in the World Championships. I’m the first women’s singles player from my country to even qualify for the World Championships. It’s OK that my tournament ended on the first day,” Guzman says with remarkable poise.
“It’s not every day I get this experience. I told myself in the morning to play my game,” she says.
For Fadilah Shamika Mohamed Rafi of Uganda, beaten 21-11, 21-7 by Malaysia’s Letshanaa Karupathevan, the Worlds are a classroom.
Mikaela Joy De Guzman of the Philippines said, despite the first round loss, she is proud to represent her country at the World Championships. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“Watching the world’s best is itself an education. When I go back to Uganda, I’m going to tell the players there what the level of the World Championships is like,” she says.
Nour Ahmed Youssri of Egypt concurs. “We are trying to grow the sport in Egypt. Next year we are hosting the junior World Championships. Every bit of knowledge we gain is useful,” she says.
For Castillo, though, the experience of stepping onto one of the biggest stages in the sport is tempered by just how brief it can be. Castillo, who reached a career-high world ranking of No. 47 in 2024 and went on to qualify for the Paris Olympics, wishes the World Championships followed a similar format.
“I played the Olympics in 2024, and I wish sometimes they had round-robin matches at the World Championships the same way as they have at the Olympics. That way at least you might get a few more matches. The World Championships are a prestigious tournament, so I kind of wish I had a chance to play a little longer.”
Instead, she’ll have to make the two-day journey back home to Peru with little to show for it.
“It’s a bit crazy,” she admits with a laugh. “You’ve got to be a little crazy to do this. But as long as I’m a little crazy, I’m going to continue to do this. Next year, if I qualify for the World Championships, I’ll do this again,” she says.
Published on Aug 18, 2026
