This photo taken on June 15, 2022 shows Ukraine’s women’s doubles badminton players Yelyzaveta Zharka (left) and Mariia Stoliarenko, who are in the country to take part in the Indonesia Open badminton tournament, posing with their national flag in Jakarta. In the smog of Indonesian capital Jakarta with the Istora Stadium as their backdrop, Ukraine’s top badminton doubles team are not focused on their early exits in back-to-back world tour events, but on the Russian invasion of their homeland. (AFP/Adek Berry)
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n the smog of capital city Jakarta with the Istora Stadium as their backdrop, Ukraine's top badminton doubles team are not focused on their early exits from back-to-back events on the world tour, but on the Russian invasion of their homeland.
Yelyzaveta Zharka and Mariia Stoliarenko were the only Ukrainians to compete at the prestigious Indonesia Open, which concludes later Sunday — one of only three Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 1000 top-ranked tournaments on the 2022 calendar.
Zharka and Stoliarenko bowed out in Tuesday's first round after a similar early exit at the Super 500 Indonesia Masters the previous week at the same venue.
But they said being able to raise awareness on a global stage for their compatriots living under Russian bombardment was a victory for them.
"We want that people don't forget about our situation which is now still going on in Ukraine," 30-year-old Zharka told AFP.
"Also, that people know that Ukraine needs support, needs attention in our fight for freedom."
The pair, ranked 68th in the world, said giving the Ukrainian people a moment of pride and motivation was "the first reason" they continue to compete at global tournaments as the war rages back home.
