Reef
This weekend the island of Lanzarote was the scene of the Spanish U23 Badminton Championship, a competition organized jointly by the Auria Bádminton Club, the Spanish Badminton Federation and the Canarian Badminton Federation. Three intense days of competition held at the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe facilities, in Arrecife, and which have crowned Miguel Esteve (Alicante Intercity) and Cristina Teruel (Huelva) as new Spanish champions of the under-23 category.
The competition began on Friday afternoon with the celebration of the first two qualifying rounds, with the quarter-final and semi-final matches being reserved for Saturday. Sunday morning began with the finals of the men’s and women’s doubles, as well as the mixed doubles, and culminated with the finals of the men’s and women’s categories.
In the men’s category, Miguel Esteve (Alicante Intercity), a player who started as fourth seed, reached the grand final by beating Yeray Carretero (21-12, 21-10), Guillermo de Montis (21-8, 21- 14), and in the semifinals he got rid of Alejandro Pérez (13-21, 21-15, 21-17), the number one seed in the tournament. For his part, Manuel Calero (Cura Mora), won in the first round against Konrad Ludwik Drobnik (21-13, 21-10), and continued his path by beating Ginés Vallés (21-18, 21-9), Fabián Gutiérrez (21-12, 21-10) and in the semifinals he beat Alejandro Baschwitz (22-20, 18-21, 21-12).
In the grand final of the men’s category, Miguel Esteve dominated the match and the Alicante Intercity player beat Manuel Calero 21-11 and 21-14, proclaiming himself the new champion of Spain in the under-23 category. Alejandro Pérez (CB IES La Orden) and Alejandro Baschwitz (Ciudad de Villalba) complete the podium in the men’s category by obtaining the bronze medal.
Cristina Teruel (Huelva), number one seed in the tournament, lived up to the predictions and reached the grand final by beating Sonia Martínez in the semifinals (21-18, 21-14). For her part, Amaia Torralba (Club Bádminton Belmecher) reached the final by beating Karen Martín (21-4, 21-14) in the quarterfinals and Ana Caballero (21-18, 21-18) in the semifinals.
The final of the women’s category had to be resolved in three sets, with Amaia Torralba taking the first set by a tight 18-21. The number one seed reacted to win the second set 22-20 and the third 21-12, proclaiming herself Cristina Teruel champion of Spain in the under-23 category. Sonia Martínez (Ciudad de Villalba) and Ana Caballero (Alicante Intercity) completed the podium in the women’s category.
In the doubles category, the couple formed by Daniel Franco (Granada) and Rodrigo Sanjurjo (Club Bádminton AS Pontes) took the victory in the men’s doubles, and the victory in the women’s doubles went to the couple formed by Ana Caballero (Alicante Intercity) and Nikol Carulla (AS Pontes Badminton Club). And the victory in the mixed doubles went to the AS Pontes Badminton Club team formed by Rodrigo Sanjurjo and Nikol Carulla.
The Spanish U23 Badminton Championship concluded at noon on Sunday with the presentation of trophies. An event in which the president of the Canary Islands Badminton Federation, Florentín Rodríguez, was present, and he was accompanied by the Sports Councilor of the Lanzarote Council, Juan Monzón, and the Sports Councilors of Arrecife and San Bartolomé, Eli Merino and Alexis. Hernandez, respectively.
The Spanish U23 Badminton Championship has been organized jointly by the Auria Bádminton Club, the Spanish Badminton Federation and the Canarian Badminton Federation, with the collaboration of the Lanzarote Council, the Insular Sports Service, the San Bartolomé City Council, Department of Sports of San Bartolomé, Government of the Canary Islands and General Directorate of Sports. It was also sponsored by the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers of Lanzarote (CACT), Atlanti Segur, Vitalclass Lanzarote, Lynda Online Classes, Multimpresion, GRPRE Canarias Energías Renovables, Centro del Deporte, Copistería Soriano, The SmartWeb Studio, Pitiminí Eventos , Plus Car, Routwaves, Radio La Más Latina, Librería Diama and LanzaroteDeportiva.
