Yasmine Hamza has found her smile again. © FIBa
Yasmine Hamza’s comeback after her serious knee injury can now be described as a success. The 21-year-old from Bolzano’s successful run was only stopped in the final at the “Egypt International”. It is Hamza’s first medal since tearing his cruciate ligament almost a year ago.
15 October 2024
From: pm
Regardless of whether the opponent came from Singapore, the USA, Portugal or Germany: With four convincing two-set victories, Yasmine Hamza played her way to the final of the Egypt International, a tournament in the “International Series” category. There she faced an absolute top player. Stefani Stoeva is a three-time European doubles champion and was a top 10 player for a long time. After her twin sister decided to slow down after the Olympics, Stefani focused on singles. The Bulgarian was the junior European champion there.
After a relatively one-sided first set (10:21), Hamza played big in the second set and led 19:15. Top favorite Stoeva was able to avert the third set. She won 21:10, 22:20. Hamza was overjoyed despite the sixth defeat in her eighth singles final. It is her first podium finish since tearing her cruciate ligament at the end of October last year and her 21st overall (11 in the individual).
This week Hamza also wants to score fully at the world ranking tournament in Algeria in order to get back into the top 100 of the world rankings as soon as possible.
Danti shows off at the Junior World Championships
The 17-year-old Marco Danti from Eppan – he is also a figurehead of the SBS – Südtirol Badminton School – remained, as expected, without a medal at the Junior World Championships in Nanchang (China), but he was still successful.
Marco Danti (r.) with his doubles partner Simone Piccinin. © FIBa
After victories over a Filipino and a Canadian pairing, Danti and Simone Piccinin only failed in the doubles in the round of 16 against a duo from Taiwan. It is rare for Italy to be among the top 16 at a Junior World Cup. In the singles, Danti also lost to a Taiwanese.
