Spanish and world badminton counts the hours for the start of the Thomas & Uber Cup, the World Championships for men’s and women’s teams that brings together the 16 best countries in the world and in its 2022 edition will be held from May 8 to 15 in Bangkok. In Thai lands there is already the women’s national team which, headed by the technical director of the Spanish Badminton FederationArturo Ruiz, compete in the Thomas Cup.
It should be remembered that the Spanish team is formed by Carolina Marín, Clara Azurmendi, Bea Corrales, Ania Setién, Lucía Rodríguez and Lorena Uslé. The competition is organized by groups of four teams among which it is necessary to be in first or second place to play the quarterfinals.
The draw placed Spain in Group B along with China, Taipei and Australia. Of the rivals, it is worth highlighting the high level of China and Chinese Taipei. The Chinese team stands out for having, at the individual level, the Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei and the medalists in the Huelva 2021 World Championship He Bing Jiao and Zhang Yi Man. In addition, in terms of doubles, Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan come from hanging silver in Tokyo 2020 and world gold in the city of Huelva.
On the other hand, Chinese Taipei has Tai Tzu Ying, who is number 1 in the world ranking, Olympic runner-up and world runner-up. Finally, there is no doubt that Australia is the most affordable rival in the group, which does not mean that you have to fight with everything to achieve victory.
Great moment of Spanish women’s badminton
Spain has just signed a historic result in the last edition of the Uber Cup, where the team led by Arturo Ruiz and Ernesto Garcia finished as the ninth best team in the world, a result that had never been achieved before. In addition, beyond the historic result, they highlighted the good feelings shown by our players, who continue to give continuity to the good feelings shown in the last few months of competition and can do great things in the future.
The great moment of Spanish women’s badminton is largely due to the launch ofl Iberdrola Uber Cup Project, whose main purpose is to promote women’s team competition within FESBA’s own sports project. The birth of this project gave rise to the documentary VALIENTES, a journey through the days of work and coexistence of the players of the Spanish team in the concentration held in La Nucía prior to the Uber Cup 2021.
The report includes testimonials from Clara Azurmendi, Bea Corrales, Ania Setién, Lucía Rodríguez, Lorena Uslé, Paula López, Claudia Leal and Nerea Ivorra, the eight players who were part of the national team, which on this occasion could not count on Carolina Marín because she was recovering from her knee injury. Of course, the Olympic champion and three-time world champion also participates in the production, as does the technical director of the Federation Arturo Ruiz and the coach of the Alicante CTD Loli Marco.
In addition to explaining how a concentration of several weeks is experienced, the protagonists review their beginnings in badminton, talk about the sacrifices they have made in search of their dream of reaching the top and talk about their concerns both sporting and non-sports .
This is a new initiative that, firstly, seeks to promote women’s doubles events in preparation for team competitions, in which two of the three points at stake are doubles. Another great objective of this program, as its name indicates, is to make a leap in quality in the next editions of the Uber Cup, the women’s competition par excellence and one of the most famous events on the world scene after the Olympic Games and the Championship. of the world.
Spain achieves the best position in its history in the Uber Cup.
The challenge of the Iberdrola Uber Cup Project is to generate a women’s team that is sustainable over time and that produces results in the individual and doubles competitions in the coming years. In addition, it seeks to be able to form a monitoring structure for the lower U19 and U17 female categories that can apply for places within the project in the future.
Despite the fact that badminton is already known as ‘a sport with a woman’s name’ thanks to the deeds of Carolina Marín, the Spanish Badminton Federation is aware of the great potential of its female athletes and has set important goals. One of them is to place at least two doubles partners in the top 100 to get points in the world team ranking and be seeded in the European Women’s Team Championship.
The green shoots are beginning to be visible, since the tandem formed by Clara Azurmendi and Bea Corrales can finish the year among the 60 best in the world. Another important challenge is to promote the women’s singles event to place between three and five players in the top 100 of the world ranking. The talent is there, all that remains is to polish it until it is transformed into sporting successes.
The boost from the Iberdrola Uber Cup Project to women’s badminton may be such that Spain could opt for medals at the European Championships in the coming years and at the 2023 European Games and, why not, to qualify for a couple Spanish to play the women’s doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The starting point of this initiative is the professionalization of the athletes, to later focus on the planning of the competitions and the carrying out of preparatory technical concentrations. Therefore, the athletes integrated in the project will receive an economic scholarship and their participation in international competitions that serve to improve the world ranking in the different specialization tests will be covered. In addition, preparatory concentrations will be held at a national and international level so that the components of the project have specific training in the different tests included in the project. Finally, the international calendar of the athletes will be coordinated with their coaches, with the aim of achieving the highest possible productivity in the team as a whole.
Proper names on the international scene
Spanish badminton has wickers to be able to achieve the objectives set, largely thanks to consecrated athletes such as Carolina Marín, Clara Azurmendi or Beatriz Corrales, all of them in the top 100 of the world ranking and with ample international experience. Let us remember that Marín is the world leader in women’s badminton, that Azurmendi has added national and international titles in both singles and doubles together with Corrales.
In addition, we must not forget the young promises who are knocking on the door of the elite and aspire to be part of the Spanish team in the future, such as Ania Setién, Lucía Rodríguez, Paula López, Lorena Uslé, Nerea Ivorra, Claudia Leal. The great moment of Setién and Rodríguez was seen in the Absolute Spanish Championship, while Uslé and López shone as a couple in the Spanish International, where they hung silver. On the other hand, Ivorra and Leal also know what it means to climb international podiums, as they won silver in the women’s doubles at the Lithuanian Open.
The singles are covered by the most experienced players and by the force with which the players of the lower categories come. For this reason, the key is the development of the doubles tests and from there this project was born. The first steps have been taken and the couples formed have demonstrated their ability both nationally and internationally. It will be a matter of time before the efforts of the Spanish Badminton Federation and entities such as the Higher Sports Council (through its Women and Sports project and the Young Sports Foundation), allies of Spanish sports in general and promoters of this project in particular .
Spain already knows its rivals in the group stage of the Uber Cup 2022, after the draw held this Friday at the headquarters of the International Federation (BWF). The women’s team has been drawn in Group B along with China, Chinese Taipei and Australia.
The Uber Cup is the name given to the World Championships for women’s teams and is held from May 8 to 15 in Bangkok together with the men’s version of the Thomas Cup, with the 16 best teams on the planet.
Regarding the competition, it is organized by groups of four teams among which it is necessary to be in first or second place to play the quarterfinals.
Of the rivals of the Spanish, it is worth highlighting the high level of China and Chinese Taipei. The Chinese team stands out for having, at the individual level, the Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei and the medalists in the Huelva 2021 World Championship He Bing Jiao and Zhang Yi Man. In addition, in terms of doubles, Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan come from hanging silver in Tokyo 2020 and world gold in the city of Huelva.
On the other hand, Chinese Taipei has Tai Tzu Ying, who is number 1 in the world ranking, Olympic runner-up and world runner-up. Finally, there is no doubt that Australia is the most affordable rival in the group, which does not mean that you have to fight with everything to achieve victory.
It should be remembered that Spain has just signed a historic result in the last edition of the Uber Cup, where the team led by Arturo Ruiz and Ernesto García finished as the ninth best team in the world, a result that had never been achieved before. In addition, beyond the historic result, they highlighted the good feelings shown by our players, who continue to give continuity to the good feelings shown in the last few months of competition and can do great things in the future.
