The event will be held between March 1 and 6 and will count towards the world ranking and qualifying for the Paralympic Games in Paris
“Vitoria breathes sport and parabadminton”. The representatives of the three institutions – the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, the Álava Provincial Council and the Vital Foundation – expressed themselves in these terms, wishing to support the Just Badminton club from Vitoria yesterday as the organizer of the I International Parabadminton Tournament. It is not for less. The contest, which will be held in the Alava capital between March 1 and 6 at the Zabalgana sports center, will bring together nearly 180 male and female players from 35 countries on five continents. “A scoring event for the world ranking and qualifying for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, so the international para-badminton center will be located in the capital of Alava,” said the director of the tournament, Dina Abouzeid.
The presentation was attended by the president of the Spanish Badminton Federation, Ángel Ruiz, and his counterpart in the Alavesa Federation, Andoni Azurmendi. The appointment already has several relevant figures confirmed. It will be the Olympic champion and number 1 in the ranking, the Indian Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar, Paralympic bronze medalist and world number 3, both in a wheelchair. On foot, the eleven-time world champion from Malaysia, Cheah Liek Hou, the Swiss Karin Suter-Erath, fourth in the world, or the Peruvian Carmen Giuliana Póveda, world champion in 2019 and world number 1 in SH6.
Spain will have nine representatives, among which stand out in their different categories the national champions in chair Francisco Motero and Ignacio Fernández and Pablo Serrano in the standing modality.
six categories
This tournament will be played in the six categories into which para-badminton is divided based on the disability of the athletes. In chair, they are called WH1 and WH2 depending on the competitor’s trunk control. Standing there are four levels: SL4 and SL3, referring to lower limb amputations; SU5, which includes damage to the upper limbs and SH6, which corresponds to players of short stature, less than 1.45 meters in men and 1.37 in women. Hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The 22 finals will be played on Sunday, March 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to give way to the award ceremony.
