On Monday, July 11, the National Championship of this discipline begins, which will bring together about 100 athletes from all over the country in the Sub 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, adult and all competitor categories.
For a week, Antofagasta will be the epicenter of Chilean badminton thanks to the National Championship of this discipline, which will take place between Monday, July 11 and Sunday, July 17 at The Antofagasta Baptist College gymnasium.
The event, organized by the National Badminton Federation (Fedebad), will bring together nearly 100 athletes from the communes of Ovalle, La Serena, Santiago, Viña del Mar, Concón, Valparaíso, Temuco, Vilcún, Lonquimay, Curacautín and Punta Arenas. , belonging to the categories Sub 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, adult and all competitors, who will be measured in singles and doubles.
During the official launch of the championship, headed by the Regional Director of IND, Nellie Miranda Eldan, the more than 40 athletes who will represent the region in this competition, all members of the five clubs that make up the Antofagasta Badminton Association, gathered. (Asobad) and who mostly develop their sports processes through the Promesas Chile and Crecer en Movimiento programs, dependent on Mindep-IND.
One of the strong cards of this championship is the outstanding badminton player from Antofagasta and member of Team Chile, Benjamín Bahámondez (18), who is happy with the event. “It will be the first time that we are going to be in our region competing in a national tournament and it will also be the first time that my family sees me compete and that makes me happy,” he said.
Regarding his category, he explains that “it will be my last national tournament as a U19, I want to win my category, but this time I also have a much higher goal, which is to win the adult tournament.”
The also national team player, Martín Olmos (14), will compete in the Sub 15 category, an instance for which he has proposed “reaching the podium”, while his partner Fabián Díaz (9) will be part of the Sub 11 and for this tournament he says he feels “prepared to go for the first places”.
From the National Badminton Federation highlighted the realization of this event. Its secretary, Ricardo Bahamóndez, described it as “a dream that came from 2014. We have gathered an important group of representatives who are capable of making this possible and we as a union are supporting and taking this sport to regions.”
Along these lines, Lisett Carvajal, president of the Antofagasta Badminton Association, valued the public-private partnership that has allowed the development of this event. “We have had great support from the parents of the athletes who make up each club, from the companies in the area, from the Regional Government and from Mindep-IND,” she stressed.
Regarding the expectations regarding the performance of the regional delegation, the badminton coach of the Promesas Chile program, Susana Salinas, explained that “we are going to have six generations on the court, the athletes from Antofagasta who make up the adult category and all competitors are athletes from very good level that they obtained medals in South American and Pan American games and on the part of the youth we are doing well, I think we are progressing”.
Those who also valued the realization of this event were the regional sports authorities. The Seremi Diego Rojas Reyes, explained that this tournament is “a pride for the region and for us it is very important to continue positioning Antofagasta as a strategic pole for holding national championships.”
For her part, the Regional Director of IND, Nellie Miranda Eldan, stated that thanks to collaboration and joint work “this tournament has unparalleled characteristics compared to previous versions, it will be a completely free championship, food and drinks are covered. The truth is that we see that badminton is strengthened in the Antofagasta region”.
The National Badminton Championship will start on Monday, July 11 in the afternoon and all matches are open to the public. Those who wish to attend them must go to the gymnasium of The Antofagasta Baptist College, located at Avenida Pedro Aguirre Cerda 9330, presenting their respective mobility pass. More information about the schedules on Instagram @nacional_badminton_2022
