“It’s a bit of a long story, actually,” begins Gianna Stiglich, the only Italian to make the quarterfinals at the BWF World Junior Championships 2023.
It’s an unusual story, too.
The 18-year-old was born in Peru, where she spent her early childhood and was introduced to badminton through her older sister, a junior international. When Gianna was 10, the family decided to relocate to the US, where Gianna trained under the tutelage of 2005 world champion Howard Bach at Synergy Badminton Academy. After five years it was time to move once again, with her family shifting to Italy at a time that coincided with the Covid years (like her father, Gianna has three passports: Peruvian, Italian and Croatian). Two years ago, Gianna shifted to Madrid as she was allowed to train at the Spanish national centre.
“I’ve been travelling since I was born, basically, moving country to country. Sometimes it’s a bit hard, you move so much that but in badminton it’s really nice because you travel and meet new people, but maybe for school it’s hard. I have friends all over.
“I think I’m used to it. It’s really nice to see different cultures.” It was on one vacation that the badminton bug bit her.
“I have three sisters, and the second one, Flavia, played Peru. I started playing badminton because of her. My parents brought her to the US to train at the OCBC Club in LA because the level was much better than back in Peru. One time I was there for vacation, and I grabbed one of her rackets and I started playing. From then when we went back to Peru and I continued with badminton.”
Her performances this year have been consistent, with wins at the Polish U19 Open and FZ FORZA U19 Irish Open, and semifinal finishes at the All England Junior, IBERDROLA Spanish Junior and Italian Junior International events.
Training at the centre in Madrid is her idol Carolina Marin, and Gianna is thrilled at the opportunity to watch her go about her business at close quarters.
“I’m training at the national centre in Madrid and I’m very happy there, to be living my dream. There are many good players, good training, and the atmosphere is great.
“My idol for sure is Carolina, it’s nice to see her every day at training. For me it’s really cool to see how she trains, her habits and so on.”
Highlights
Gianna Stiglich beat Denmark’s Kajsa Van Dalm 21-12 17-21 21-8 to enter the quarterfinals, where she faces China’s Huang Lin Ran.
Top seed and defending champion Tomoka Miyazaki comfortably made her way past Sarunrak Vitidsarn 21-9 21-15 and will take on Indonesia’s Chiara Marvella Handoyo.
Top seed Alex Lanier is the only non-Asian quarterfinalist in men’s singles. The Frenchman beat Thailand’s Wongsup Wongsup-In 21-13 21-11 and will face China’s Zhang Ning for a place in the semifinals.
In the mixed doubles category, Denmark’s Reiler/ Petersen will face top seeded Chinese pair Zhu/ Huang after beating Butler/ Dennis from England, 21-18 19-21, in the R16. Also through to the quarterfinals for Denmark are Vestergaard/ Røjkjær.