From the Spanish Badminton Federationin its interest in promoting inclusive sport and specifically the practice of badminton for people with disabilities, organized with the support of the Sanitas Foundation a new edition of the National Inclusive Badminton Circuit. This tournament was played in the Francisco Fernandez Ochoa Municipal Sports Center on May 7 and 8, parallel to the Absolute Spanish Championship and the Spanish Parabadminton Championship.
The entire competition could be followed live and can be seen again on the Federation’s YouTube channel, where a total of 14 broadcasts were offered, including a special broadcast with the outstanding matches of the final day. In addition, various photo galleries have been published are available on the Facebook of the Federation.
The Inclusive National Circuit was the great novelty of the weekend, by organizing a competition in which players from the Absolute Championship played with athletes from the Para badminton championship forming mixed pairs among themselves.
This circuit left two exciting semifinals on Saturday and a memorable final that was decided in three sets. The first semifinal faced Cristina Sánchez de Lecinainternational player for the para badminton team, and Rodrigo Sanjurjomember of the Junior national team, with Jorge Lopezalso a player for the para badminton team, and Silvia Round, player and coach. The win went to López y Redondo by 21-14 and 21-12.
The second semifinal measured Henry Fernandezanother proper name of national badminton, and Selenia Plaone of the promises of Spanish para badminton, with Manuela Diazabsolute champion of Spain in 2020, e Ivan Segura, another member of the national para-badminton team. This semifinal was very even and was not decided until the third set and fell on the side of Díaz y Segura (23-21, 22-24 y 21-19).
The grand finale was also charged with emotion. Jorge Lopez y Silvia Round they took the first set (21-19), but Díaz y Segura they did not lower their arms and took the second game (17-21). In the third and final sleeve López y Redondo They were more successful in the final moments, taking the victory (21-19) and therefore the gold medal.
The final day was attended by Yolanda ErburuCEO of the Sanitas Foundationwho witnessed different matches of the competition and, like the champions, shared their assessments in the broadcast that was offered of the event.
