Hungary: Sure, winning is great, but good sportsmanship is more than that!
Hungary’s Laura Sarosi lost her crucial match 21-16, 14-21, 18-21 to Karin Schnaase of Germany in a thrilling 1 hour battle during the Badminton European Championship in France on April 27, which was her last chance to qualify for Rio Olympics 2016.
But it was Laura Sarosi’s incredible act of selflessness, and sportsmanship that became the most memorable part of the match.
In the first set, one of Karin Schnaase’s badminton shoes ruptured and she had no spare shoes in her bag. The rules did not allowed Schnaase to ask for a break and go to locker room to get new shoes. Sarosi could have just waited to win the match as Schnaase had no other option but to retire from the match.
Instead, Sarosi asked Schnaase for her shoe size, coincidentally, both wore the same shoe size and the Hungarian girl then ran to her bag and gave her German opponent her own shoes so that Schnaase could stay in the game.
Eventually, the German badminton player won the match to qualify for the Olympic Games, but Sarosi’s kindness and what she did has resonated with so many people around the world.
Fortunately, in order to ensure maximum possible global representation in Olympic sports, Badminton World Federation (BWF) has selected Laura Sarosi on Wednesday as part of re-distributed Tripartite invitation to fill up the 41 places in the Olympic Women’s Singles event.
However, her boyfriend, World No. 72 Lino Munoz from Mexico, did not qualify for one of the 41 places in the Rio men’s singles event.
