Tokyo 2020
Soraya Aghaei becomes first Iranian woman to qualify for Olympics in badminton
Soraya Aghaei has become the first-ever Iranian woman to qualify for the Olympics in the sport of badminton.
Soraya Aghaei (Source: soraya__aghaei/Instagram)
A google search for Soraya Aghaei does not show anything much, except the fact that she is a badminton player from the country of Iran. Born in the capital city of Iran, Tehran, the 25-year-old scripted history earlier today.
Currently ranked world number 111 women's singles in the BWF World Rankings, Soraya Aghaei, has become the first-ever Iranian woman to qualify for the Olympics in the sport of badminton. She will also become only the tenth Iranian woman to compete at the Olympics when she takes to the badminton court during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Soraya Aghaei made it to the Tokyo Games after the withdrawal of Finland's Airi Mikkela from the Olympics. While the spot vacated by Mikkela went to Egypt's Hadia Hosny first, her decision to compete in the doubles section meant that Iranian qualifies in Mikkela's spot.
Soraya Aghaei will also be the second badminton player from Iran to qualify for the Olympics. The first player from the country to compete in badminton at the Olympics was Kaveh Mehrabi when he participated in men's singles during the 2008 Beijing Games.Soraya has a decent track record in singles at the international level. She boasts of one gold and three silvers in BWF International Challenge in women's singles.
Besides, she also has three gold and four silver in women's doubles against her name.
