On Saturday, January 28, 2023, in the Municipal Sports Pavilion of the Zaragoza town of Alfajarín, just 20 kilometers from the capital, a TOP TTR Tournament was held, scoring for the national Badminton ranking, being the first Badminton Tournament. the 2023 season, which takes place during the calendar year, for the Albatros Badminton Sports Club, to which three of the Club’s members have moved, these being Jimena Alonso, Mateo Higueras and Marcos Romero, all in the U15 category; Our brave men reached Aragonese lands, defying the early morning, since the Tournament began at 9:30 a.m., measuring 308 km, for a total of 616 km. between round trip, to the Aragonese town; the Tournament ended after 7:00 p.m., with which the return home was closer to 11:00 p.m.
The Tournament, due to the high participation, in the individual category has been played in the modality of “direct elimination” since the first match, being that in doubles a group phase has been played, of those who entered the final draw only the first of each of them.
The early start and the kilometers have been worth it, because in the U15 Women’s Individual category, Jimena Alonso rose to the top of the podium, finishing as CHAMPION of the Tournament, winning all her matches with great solvency, thus taking first place in this Tournament TTR has helped Jimena Alonso rise to 21st place in the national ranking, rising 12 places in this one.
Jimena Alonso has also played the U15 Women’s Doubles modality, in this case together with Ane de Antonio from Navarra, from the Estella Badminton Club, the latter still in the U13 category, so they started at a disadvantage compared to their rivals, not being able to go beyond the group stage, although winning one of their matches, ranking fifth in this modality.
In the U15 Men’s Individual category, Albatros Mateo Higueras and Marcos Romero competed; Mateo Higueras went to the quarterfinals, qualifying in a good fifth position, which makes him rise to 43rd place in the national ranking, while Marcos Romero could not get past the round of 16, qualifying in a creditable ninth position, which also makes him climb to 70th place in the ranking, both losing their playoffs, fought to exhaustion, with the players who, in the end, would play the final of the Tournament.
Mateo Higueras and Marcos Romero were paired in the U15 Men’s Doubles, being second in their group and fighting until the end to win the game that led them to fight to play the final, although when they went to the final table only the first of each of the groups would not get to achieve it, classifying in this modality as third of the Tournament.
For the next appearance of the Albatros Badminton Sports Club, we will not have to wait, as the U15s Jimena Alonso, Mateo Higueras and Samuel Rodríguez will play the Andalusian Benalmádena U15 International Tournament from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 February 2023, in Benalmádena (Málaga). and just at the other end of Spain, to Vitoria (Álava) José Luis Martín will travel to play on the same dates, in this case Saturday and Sunday, the first test, of the five that consists, of the National Parabadminton Circuit.
