The first team of the CD Badminton Huelva, competing in the Andalusian Club League – Second Division, has obtained the go to the semifinals of the competition, after the quarterfinal day, held in the Pavilion Carlos Martínez Esteban from Jaén, last Saturday, November 19.
The Huelva team, led by coach Amanda Márquez, arrived in Jaén to face a tough commitment against the Benalmádena subsidiary, the second best team of the Eastern Andalusia Group in the Regular Phase and which is usually a regular in the final rounds of the competition . For the first time since the season began, Márquez was able to have the entire squad available, something that had not happened on previous occasions, due to the commitments in individual competitions of his main athletes. And, despite the fact that the entity is strongly committed to a tournament that it has won twice, the individual development of its young values, especially those who play international competitions, always comes before team competitions, which, in the Badminton sports, like other racket sports, such as tennis, have a secondary relevance with respect to individual competitions.
With all his cards on the table, the match started at 9:30 am with the mixed doubles match. The first to hit would be Huelva, who at the hand of Sergio Cardador-Lucía Leal managed to get ahead in the tie, thanks to their victory over Javier López-Elena Martínez, by a 21-16 double.
The women’s and men’s doubles matches were assumed to be tough, as both teams lined up pairs of an even level. In the women, Lucía Leal repeated to form a couple with Amanda Márquez, who once again assumed the double task of coach-player to help her team. On the Benalmadan side, Elena Martínez also played her second game, this time with Celia de Lara, together with whom she managed to put the Huelva duo on the ropes, although they finally ended up giving up 15-21 / 21-15 / 21- 10, which made it 2-0 on the scoreboard.
Next, the men’s doubles were played by Sergio Cardador-José Miguel Rodríguez, for Huelva, and Javier López-Laxman Martínez, for Benalmádena B. The trend was similar to the previous match, with a fairly even game and with options for both couples. The final result again favored Amanda Márquez’s men, who made it 3-0 on the scoreboard thanks to their 21-18 / 17-21 / 21-14 victory.
In this way, the Arroyo de la Miel team was forced to win the remaining four games to be able to go to the semifinals, while a defeat in any of these would mean the Huelva victory and the end of the match.
And so it would be on the first occasion, that of female individual number 2. Both coaches threw their strategy and placed their best players for this match, so Cristina Teruel (Huelva) and Celia de Lara (Benalmádena B) faced each other in the first match-ball for the malagueños. De Lara began giving the surprise, by prevailing in the first set by 21-16, something that Teruel surmounted, which put the tie with 21-14 in the second sleeve and completed the comeback, closing the tie in turn, with 21-9 in the third.
In this way, CD Badminton Huelva will play its fifth semifinals in its ninth participation in the Andalusian Club League – Second Division, a good background for an entity of just 10 years, which has two titles in its record and that has reached dispute, in two consecutive seasons, the National League of Clubs – First National.
His rival will be CB IES La Orden, the top favorite of the competition and who has managed to keep almost all of his squad after being left out of the National Club League – Top 8. A complicated tie for Huelva, which also counts , with one of the youngest squads in the competition, but who will face with the intention of giving his best to achieve the best possible result. The first leg will be played on Saturday, January 16, while the return will be on the 30th of the same month. The schedules, as well as the facilities that will host these meetings, have yet to be decided.
