Cynthia Mathez, Ilaria Renggli, Luca Olgiati and Marc Elmer will participate in the World Para Badminton Championships which will take place from February 20 to 25 in Thailand. For them, it’s not just about winning medals, but also valuable points for qualifying for the Paralympic Games.
Cynthia Mathez is currently the third best player in the world in her category (archives).
KEYSTONE
A shock quartet will represent Switzerland at the Para-badminton Worlds in Pattaya: Cynthia Mathez, second at the 2022 world championships, Argovian Ilaria Renggli, second at the European championships last year, Luca Olgiati, also second at the European Championships in Rotterdam, and the Glarus native Marc Elmer, bronze medalist in doubles at the last Europeans.
Earn points for Paris 2024
Cynthia Mathez is currently the third best player in the world in her category and Ilaria Renggli, who had already caused a surprise by winning bronze in her first participation in the World Championships in 2022, is also one of the best players. Since the 23-year-old from Aargau completed the RE for elite athletes a year ago, she has become a one hundred percent professional athlete.
The two women are on track to become the only European women’s doubles to qualify for Paris 2024. Currently, the two Swiss women occupy 2nd place in the Paralympic rankings. A place in the top 6 and therefore qualification for Paris seem within reach. At the World Championships, Cynthia Mathez and Ilaria Renggli will compete in doubles and singles.
On the other hand, the two Swiss men will only fight for points in singles. Aargau’s Luca Olgiati, currently 6th in the Paralympic rankings, reached the round of 16 at the last world championships. His objective is to repeat this performance in Pattaya or, if possible, to go through an additional round to secure a place for Paris 2024. The Glarus player Marc Elmer is participating for the first time in the singles world championships.
As more points are awarded at the Worlds than at other tournaments, all the best athletes will participate. Above all, it is Asian competition from Japan, Korea, China and Thailand that will challenge the Swiss wheelchair badminton team.
htr, ats
2024-02-14 12:37:00
#Swiss #Paris #sights
