United Arab Emirates, a country rarely known for its badminton prowess, is rewriting its racquet journey at the BWF World Championships 2026, which is currently going on at New Delhi.
Spearheading this badminton revolution are two sisters, Taabia Khan and Mysha Omer Khan, who are looking to make racquet sports popular among the 11 million people.
Although the pair lost their game against Bengisu ErÇetin and Nazlıcan İnci, it was their second consecutive appearance at the World Championships, after they made it to Paris last year, thereby becoming the very first players from the UAE to play at such a prestigious tournament.
Speaking after the match at the BWF World Championships, the sisters reflected on their roots and journey from India to the UAE. “Our mother is from Mumbai, while our father is from Madhya Pradesh. They moved to the UAE for work, and that is where we were born and raised. We completed our schooling there and have represented the UAE in badminton since our junior years,” they said.
From Cricketing ‘Nets’ to Badminton ‘Courts’
Interestingly, badminton was not the first sport that the sisters picked up to make their sports career. The racquet sport was introduced just as a recreational activity, and cricket was the game that the sisters picked, having a rooted family tradition with the game.
“My mother used to play badminton just for fun. I started playing cricket a few years ago because my father and several of my uncles had played in the Ranji Trophy. But since my mother enjoyed badminton, I eventually took up the sport as well,” one of the sisters recalled.
Support For Badminton In UAE
In their concluding remarks, the sisters spoke at length about the steady rise of badminton in the UAE, a development that has been increasingly visible in recent years and was also echoed by coaches from several countries in the lead-up to the tournament.
“More people are starting to play badminton in the UAE. There is a whole UAE badminton team now across categories. There is the junior team as well as the senior team.”
They highlighted the emergence of a more organised national setup, with dedicated junior and senior teams now competing under the federation. “The UAE badminton federation is funding us for tournaments. They also send us to international tournaments,” the sisters said.
For players like Taabia and Mysha, this steady growth has meant greater opportunities to train, compete and gain international exposure while representing the UAE.