Yasmine Hamza found her smile again. ©FIBa
Yasmine Hamza’s return from her serious knee injury can now be described as a success. The winning run of the 21-year-old from Bolzano was stopped only in the final of the “Egypt International”. It is Hamza’s first medal since rupturing his cruciate ligament almost a year ago.
15. October 2024
Yes: pm
It didn’t matter whether the opponent came from Singapore, the USA, Portugal or Germany: with four convincing victories in two sets, Yasmine Hamza made her way to the final of the Egypt International, a tournament in the “International Series” category . There he faced an absolute top player. Stefani Stoeva is a three-time European doubles champion and has long been a top 10 player. After her twin sister decided to slow down after the Olympics, Stefani focused on singles. The Bulgarian was the European junior champion there.
After a relatively one-sided first set (10:21), Hamza played great in the second set to take the lead by 19:15. The favorite Stoeva managed to avoid the third set. He won 21:10, 22:20. Hamza was delighted despite the sixth defeat in her eighth singles final. It is her first podium since rupturing her cruciate ligament at the end of October last year and her 21st overall (11th in the individual).
This week Hamza also wants to score his best at the world ranking tournament in Algeria to get back into the top 100 of the world ranking as soon as possible.
Danti shows off at the Junior World Championships
The 17-year-old Marco Danti from Appiano – also a leading figure of the SBS – Südtirol Badminton School – remained, as expected, without medals at the Junior World Championships in Nanchang (China), but was still successful.
Marco Danti (right) with his doubles partner Simone Piccinin. ©FIBa
After victories over a Filipino and a Canadian pair, Danti and Simone Piccinin only failed in the double round of 16 against a pair from Taiwan. It is rare for Italy to be in the top 16 in a Junior World Cup. Danti also lost to a Taiwanese in the singles.
