Uriel Canjura celebrates one of his points. / Melvin Recinos
Victory and qualification to the semifinals. That was what the Salvadoran badminton player Uriel Canjura achieved at the VI International 2024. The Olympic athlete continues to demonstrate a good level and this time he beat the Spanish Álvaro Leal 2-1 (17-21, 21-13 and 21-13) in a match that began by losing, but managed to redeem itself and advance to the next stage of the championship.
Canjura and Leal left an exciting first game, since it was the Salvadoran who took the lead at the beginning, but then the Spaniard overtook him. For most of this first duel they had little difference on the scoreboard, as they were only ahead by one or two points. It was until the end that the Spaniard grabbed the clean and jerk and finished with a 21-17.
The second game was all Canjura’s, he dominated it from start to finish, without giving an advantage to Leal, who couldn’t get close enough on the scoreboard. After that, the Salvadoran surpassed him, finishing with a score of 21-13.
The match reached a third set and Canjura started again with a partial defeat and little by little they tied, distancing themselves by only one point until they reached 13-13, that was when only the Salvadoran began to raise the score in his favor until reach another resounding 21-13 final, taking the match 2-1 and advancing to the semifinals of the competition.
In the next phase he will face the Brazilian Jonathan Matías, who beat the American Garret Tan 2-0 (18-21 and 14-21). The South American is the best positioned in the ranking remaining in the tournament after Canjura. It will be the highest level men’s duel and will qualify for the final to be played on Saturday.
Canjura have faced Matías several times and these have been the results. The Carioca has surpassed the Salvadoran more times:
XXVI YONEX Pan Am Individual Championships 2023
Victoria -Quarterfinals: 2-1 (18-21, 21-13 and 21-18)
XIII Mexican International 2022
Defeat -Semifinals: 1-2 (21-18, 14-21 and 18-21)
Peru International Series 2022
Defeat -Final: 2-0 (21-12 and 21-15)
XXVII Pan Am Junior Championships U19 2018
Defeat -Quarterfinals: 2-0 (21-14 and 21-16)
XXVI Pan Am Junior Championships U19 2017
Defeat -Quarterfinals: 1-2 (18-21, 21-19 and 7-21)
The other Salvadorans who participated in doubles were eliminated in the morning and in the afternoon the mixed team of Javier Alas and Fátima Centeno fell, who advanced since yesterday due to a walkover by Luis Martínez and Denisse Arvelaez, both from Venezuela, but lost in quarterfinals against Davi Silva and Sania Lima, from Brazil.
