In recent years, our country has been consolidating itself as a venue for high-level sports championships and this week has been an example of this. In Sports Center 2 of the National Sports Village (Seen), the Peru International Series 2024 is being developed, a competition of badminton in which 95 athletes from at least 16 nations are participating.
The president of the Peruvian Badminton Federation, Gonzalo Castillo Guzmánsaid exclusively for Panamericana.pe that of the total number of athletes: 65 are foreigners and 30 are nationals, the winners will receive a prize of 5 thousand dollars.
“The infrastructure that badminton has today in Peru, and here in Videna, is extraordinary for this type of international events. Previously, they come to validate that the facilities are adequate (…). Nowadays, here in Videna, we can have an event at an international and global level”assured Castillo.
Regarding the performance of the athletes, the president of said federation points out that Peru has been occupying important places in international competitions both in conventional badminton and in on parabadmint.
“The level of games that Peruvian athletes are having is growing (…) We have 240 international medals a year between conventional and para-badminton athletes. The level is very high here”he added.
As is well known, Peru managed to classify the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in badminton with Ines Castillo and with Ruby Fernandez, Pilar Jauregui y Giuliana Poveda in the parabadminton discipline at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“The maximum of a Federation is to reach the Olympics and more, if one brings a medal; also qualify for a world championship. In these periods we have classified both the conventional and para-badminton world championships and not only that: we have brought back several para-badminton world medals. In this administration, we have managed to have the Sports Laurels for the first time in the history of Peruvian parabadminton in the front of the National Stadium, we already have four laureates, four from parabadminton”he pointed out.
PERU WINS THIS COMPETITION
After a victory against Brazil in the round of 16, in the mixed doubles category, and winning against badminton players Armando Gaitán (Mexico) and Fernanda Saponara (Peru), in the quarterfinals; José Guevara and Inés Castillo, both Peruvian representatives, managed to qualify for the semifinals and secure a medal.
Tomorrow, October 19, the Peruvians will face Luis Armando Montoya and Miriam Jacqueline Rodríguez, both representatives of Mexico, from 10 in the morning, in La Videna.
“Communication is very important because sometimes two players can be very good, but when it comes to putting them together they simply do not complement each other. “I think that, in our case, we complement each other very well, we know perfectly how the other plays, how we have to support, that helps us a lot to be able to get good games,” indicated Inés Castillo.
On the other hand, Naomi Junco Vasquez and Analia Yi Ordoñez, both promising Peruvian badminton players, will compete against Jacqueline Lima and Samia Lima (Brazil), also from 10 in the morning.
SOUTH AMERICAN PARABADMINTON
From November 24 to 29, the VI South American Parabadminton Championship 2024 will take place, a competition that has generated great expectations in the region, “There are more than 100 registered”; However, many ignore that this sporting event was an initiative that was born in our country in 2017.
“The first Parabadminton South American was held here, in Peru, and now, that I am leaving, because a new management is coming in in December, we are doing the fourth Parabadminton South American, which will now be at the end of November. “There is a lot of expectation, a whole team is coming from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, almost all the countries in South America and there are more than 100 registered, the expectation is very great,” he pointed out.
BADMINTON WALK OF FAME
It is important to note that yesterday, Thursday, October 17, the Walk of Fame and the Museographic Mural of Peruvian Badminton were inaugurated, in the Sports Center 2 of La Videna, which pays tribute to the athletes and para-athletes of this discipline who They have left a mark on history.
On the tour, all the players who have been national champions from 1965 to 2024 are seen, some trophies won and the mascots of important international competitions such as the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games are also displayed. Among the medals, the bronze medal won by Inés Castillo and José Guevara at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games (mixed doubles) stands out.
