The Vignes Sisters become French at last

Sashina and Teshana Vignes Waran have been granted French citizenship at last. The Malaysian-born shuttlers have been living in France for over 9 years and had seen their citizenship requests turned down three times in the past 5 years. Finally, the French government finally gave them their citizenship on September 1st, 2013. They will be able to play for the French National Team, both in individual events and team events.  The new President of the French Badminton Federation, Mr Richard Remaud, had made known that the new board would be fully pushing for their citizenship and his promises have been kept.

This will be a clear step forward for France as Sashina is world #33 in women’s singles, while her younger sister specializes in doubles and mixed.  Sashina had qualified for the recent World Championships but could not participate because her citizenship had not been granted. She will be able to play for France at the Worlds in Copenhagen next year.