EUSA Insider:

Alexander Roovers

Age:                    30

Place of Birth:    Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

University:          University of Duisburg-Essen (GER)

Published: 10 November 2017 

Briefly describe how and why did you get involved with Badminton?

My parents and my older siblings were playing badminton, so that's how I got in touch with it.

What do you study? How do you balance your study, trainings and competitions?

I studied mathematics and sports to become a teacher. In the study vacations I practice fulltime and I tried to play as many tournaments as possible. During the semester I tried to do my classes between and after the practice and of course I played less tournaments.

Tell us about your experience at the European Universities Badminton Championships 2017. Is this your first time at an EUSA event?

It was a well organized tournament. No delays, the time schedule was very good. Each team is given one student from the host country/university who could speak in our language, so if there were some problems you could solve them easily. They also could give us advice what is worth to do and see at our day off. Over the years I have taken part at many EUSA events.

"The social aspect is a huge part...support, meals, day off, sight seeing!"

The European Universities Games 2018 will take place in Coimbra, Portugal, do you hope to be there? Why do you think university sport events are important?

I finished my study back in the summer of 2016, so I'm no longer allowed to play unfortunately. It is a different style of competition. I really like the fact that you are traveling with a team for a longer time. The social aspect is a huge part (support, meals, day off, sight seeing,...) of university sports events. You get in touch with other students. At these competitions I also see far more from the hosting city/country as I did from other badminton tournaments.

This is your chance! What is your message to European students like yourself?

Just take part in these tournaments (European Universities Championships or Games) if you like a good competition level, making friends and sight seeing you will love it.

EUSA would like to congtratulate Alexander on becoming the European Universities Badminton Men's Single Champion 2017! Thank you for competing at EUSA over the last few years, and best of luck for the future!

Find out more about Coimbra 2018.