Learn Turkish: Genel kategoriyi yarışmacılar sevmiyor. - It is the contestants who do not like the general category.

In standard Turkish, the subject usually comes first. However, the position right before the verb is the focus position. By placing yarışmacılar immediately before the verb sevmiyor, we emphasize who dislikes the category. It stresses that the contestants (not the judges or the audience) are the ones who don't like it.

The English translation says 'It is the contestants who...', but there is no Turkish word for 'who' here. Why?

English often uses a structure like 'It is [X] who...' to emphasize a specific part of a sentence. Turkish doesn't need extra words for this; it just moves the emphasized word into the pre-verbal focus spot. So, putting yarışmacılar right before the verb translates perfectly to the emphatic 'It is the contestants who...'.

Why does kategoriyi have the -(y)i suffix?

It has the accusative case suffix -(y)i because it is a specific direct object ('the general category'). Even though the word order is flipped and the object is at the beginning of the sentence, it still needs its case marker to show it is the thing receiving the action of the verb.

Yarışmacılar is plural, so why doesn't the verb have the plural suffix (sevmiyorlar)?