[ENTREVISTA] From friends to stars of…

The badminton players Ines Castillo (24) y Jose Guevara (26) managed to qualify for the semifinals of the Peru International Series 2024in the mixed doubles modality, and secured a medal in this competition, which has been taking place in Sports Center 2 of the National Sports Village (Seen).

Their next match will be today, Saturday, October 19, from 10 in the morning, against Luis Armando Montoya Navarro and Miriam Jacqueline Rodriguez Perez, both representatives of Mexico.

In an exclusive interview for Panamericana.pe, this duo revealed further details about how this winning team was formed, highlighting that they are friends “both on and off the field” and that this bond was forged from the first steps of their sports careers.

“Since we started, I started at more or less 10; He (José Guevara) too, probably a little smaller, and since we were 12, when we joined the National Team, we have been training together. So, it is a friendship of almost a lifetime, of our entire sporting life.”said Castillo.

How did you decide to join them?

José Guevara responded: ““Before, I only played singles and doubles, she played singles and doubles, and the coach decided to put us in a tournament to play mixed, we started playing together, we did well throughout that cycle until the Pan American Games.”.

How did winning a bronze medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games change your lives?

Castillo said: “Yes, anyway, it was an achievement that had a change in us: it was like a before and after. We saw what we could achieve and it motivated us more to continue as a couple, seeing that we worked very well and to continue training. Now, obviously, to seek the same amount of achievements”.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES

What was it like for you (Inés Castillo) to go to Paris 2024?

“It was very exciting to be honest, I think it is a dream for a lot of athletes, so to have been able to achieve it after so much struggle, because the Olympic cycle is very difficult, it was very emotional”said Castillo.

Do you both see yourself going to Los Angeles 2028?

Guevara explains that: “It is a very long process, I mean, I think that first come the Bolivarian Games, South American Games, Pan American Games, and from there, Los Angeles, but it is a very long process, it is a process of tournaments. Just for the Pan American Games we also had to travel a lot, we were in Africa, in Nigeria, we have lived so many experiences, but it is truly a process, one never knows.”.

BEHIND BADMINTON

What is your life like outside of badminton?

Inés relates that she is: “calm down, I think the priority for both of us is badminton right now. Although we study, and well José works, I believe that for a few years now we have put badminton as a priority and that has helped us a lot to be able to obtain the achievements we have achieved and obviously, always do everything based on training better, to be able to travel, to be able to get points, etc., to be able to achieve good achievements”.

What advice would you give to badminton athletes who would like to play as a couple?

Guevara recommends: “Nothing should be forced, everything flows. For example, when she trains singles, any of us always supports her, I support her and vice versa. So, we are always in constant support on and off the field, we talk, we get together for a meeting, but we are always in contact, that helps”.