The Carolina Marín Pavilion wore its best finery to host the finals of the ElPozo World Senior Badminton Championships, with fairplay very present throughout the day. One of the great protagonists was Telma Santos (W35), player from Recreativo Badminton IES La Orden, who was proclaimed champion at home before the attentive gaze of the fans who came to the Carolina Marín Pavilion,
Saturday began with the finals of the mixed doubles. Thompsen and Hardardottir (XD40) edged Marritt / Pantaney (1) in straight sets. His compatriots, Emptage / Bartlett, did make effective their number one status and left Huelva 2021 with gold in XD65. In the XD45 and XD6 = categories they produced two surprises. Aruup / Andersen (1) fell to the immeasurable Bruijstens and Van Soerland-Trouerbach. On center court, the match between Ericsson / Kristofferson and Travers / Black (1) caught the attention of the public in the first inning and ended with a narrow Swedish victory in the third set.
In the individual women’s draw, two number 1s like Svetlana Zilberman (WS60) and Zhou Xin (WS55) quickly solved their finals and once again demonstrated their superiority throughout the championship. The finishing touch to the morning shift was given by Bartlett (1) and Black (2) with a British duel at WS65. Bartlett (1) beat the Scottish player in three sets (21-14 / 18-21 / 22-20) to clinch gold.
At the end of the first block of matches, the award ceremony was held. This began with a brief speech from the vice president in Europe of the World Badminton Federation, Joao Martos, and continued with Andoni Azurmendi, president of the Spanish, who thanked all those who have made the event possible and who competed in it. Before the medal ceremony, the championship referees were recognized in an emotional tribute.
At the resumption, Telma Santos and Maya Dobreva (1) staged a top-level duel for gold at WS35. The Portuguese player from Recreativo Badminton La Orden competed from start to finish, winning over number two in the draw. After the meeting, Telma explained her preparation for the championship and what the gold medal means for her: «It was very important for me, because after the Rio Olympics I stopped, I have not played internationally, and it was IES The Order, the people (from players, coaches… everyone), who have shaken my hand. That is why I feel at home. This title is very important to me, because I can show Portugal that I am still here. And that is for my club and for all those who accompany me ». In the same turn as Telma, Danielsen (MS75) and Jenner (WS75) comfortably beat number one Gasz and Richter respectively.
More information about the ElPozo BWF Senior World Championship Huelva 2021.
