Luis Enrique Penalver yesterday celebrated the first victory of the Spanish delegation in the Absolute Badminton World Cup that is being played in Huelva. Taking advantage of the morning, different schools filled part of the stands of the Sports Palace Carolina Marin to experience a historic event for the city. Those present vibrated with the triumph of the Spanish midfielder against the Mexican Luis Armando Montoya Navarro, in just over half an hour of play by 21-15 and 21-13.
Peñalver will fight for a place in the round of 16 with the Danish Rasmus Gemke, seeded number 11. Difficult opponent in this long world road.
Nobody said it was easy. Climbing the steps of this mountain and reaching the top is within the reach of very few. Yesterday, the surprise of the championship jumped. Viktor AxelsenThe No. 2 seed and current No. 1 in the world lost in the first round to Singaporean player Loh Kean Yew. The Danish was the favorite to hang the gold medal, and more after the loss of the Japanese Kento Momota, seeded number 1. Axelsen, current Olympic champion, already knows what it is to win a World Cup after winning the gold in Glasgow 2017. A milestone that he will not be able to repeat in Huelva since he yielded yesterday in three sets against his rival: 14-21, 21-9 and 21-6.
The one who did his homework was the seed number 3, who was also Danish. Anders Antonsen, who now has an easier path ahead of him to reach the final after the elimination of Axelsen. Antonsen beat Russian Vladimir Malkov 21-16 and 21-13.
As for the Spanish participation, today the female doubles pair formed by Beatriz Corrales and Clara Azurmendi, who will face the Japanese Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, seventh seeds in the second round – they did not play the first due to the loss of their rivals. This will be the fourth game on center court. It will be the only Spanish participation in the day. It should be remembered that in addition to Peñalver, the men’s doubles pair formed by Joan Monroy and Carlos Piris are also present, who went directly to the second round after causing their rivals to drop. On the other hand, today important players will be released in the Huelva tapestries that will be of interest to all who witness the day. Thus, today the seed number 1 female plays, Tai Tzu Ying, Chinese He Bing Jiao, Canadian Michelle Li, or Indian Sindhu.
It should also be remembered that next to the Sports Palace, there is the Village Plaza, a fan zone in which leisure and activities related to badminton take center stage. Also, you can buy merchandise or enjoy some points of the sports thanks to a couple of improvised courts for everyone to try beating the wheel with the badminton racket.
.
