Seville vibrates with some Spanish Championships to remember

Spanish badminton focused its focus this weekend on Seville, the venue for an unforgettable triple date. And it is that the Seville capital brought together more than 150 athletes in a triple date with the best national rackets with the dispute of the Absolute Spanish Championship, the Spanish Parabadminton Championship and the Final Phase of the National Inclusive Circuit promoted by the Sanitas Foundation. These competitions captured all the eyes of the fans of this sport, since it had a good handful of ingredients to be tremendously exciting.

On the one hand, Pablo Abián could be seen winning his sixteenth consecutive title and on the other hand, the Federation’s commitment to inclusion was confirmed with the dispute of the Final Phase of the National Inclusive Circuit. In addition, on the final day Clara Azurmendi and Ania Setién starred in a final worthy of the World Tour and there were also some very exciting doubles finals. On the other hand, the Spanish Parabadminton Championship left great moments, such as the triple gold for Pablo Serrano or the two titles for Ignacio Fernández.

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???? GALLERY | The images of an unforgettable weekend.

Absolute Spanish Championship

The first title of the day was won by the women’s doubles between Paula López and Bea Corrales. The Madrileñas dominated the first game and knew how to contain the reaction of Haideé Ojeda and Laura Santos from Huelva, closing the match with a result of 21-9 and 21-15.

In parallel, there was another heart-stopping duel, the men’s doubles final that pitted Carlos Piris and Rubén García against Jaume Pérez and Fran Olivares. This match was very even and we had to wait for the third set to meet the champions, since Pérez and Olivares started winning but García and Piris evened things out. Finally, it was the latter who completed the comeback after a heart-stopping finish (12-21, 21-9 and 21-18).

There was also no lack of emotion in the individual finals, in which Pablo Abián and Clara Azurmendi emerged victorious. The man from Bilbao managed to beat Álvaro Leal 21-15 and 21-9, winning his sixteenth consecutive national title, an achievement never before seen in Spanish badminton. To make history, Abián resisted the initial momentum of Leal, who exhibited physical problems in his right leg.

In the other final, Azurmendi defeated Ania Setién in a top-level duel, as shown by the fact that both players starred in this same match in the Madrid Spain Masters corresponding to the World Tour circuit. As on that occasion, Azurmendi beat Setién to win the title 21-14 and 21-16.

The excitement lasted during the mixed doubles final, which pitted the couple formed by Rubén García and Lucía Rodríguez against the duo of Pablo Abián and Haideé Ojeda. The young players who train at the CAR in Madrid imposed their game in the first set. The veteran couple from IES La Orden did not throw in the towel by any means and kept up the intensity, although in the end the duo of García and Rodríguez managed to win 21-15 and 21-14.

Spanish Parabadminton Championship

One of the regular protagonists of this competition is Pablo Serrano and once again he did not miss his appointment with the highest step of the podium. In the men’s individual event of SL4-SU5-SH6 he won the fourth national title of his career, defeating Manuel García with authority in the final (21-6 and 21-9). Serrano also won gold together with Selenia Pla in the SL3-SH6 mixed doubles event, a test in which they defeated Iván Segura and Cristina Sánchez 21-16 and 21-17.

Cristina Sánchez was able to remove the thorn in the individual final of SL4-SU5 by being crowned champion after defeating Selenia Pla 21-12 and 21-17. It is also worth noting the great triumph of Manuel García and Pablo Serrano in SU5 men’s doubles, a title they won with their victory over José Manuel de las Heras and José Luis Martín by 21-10 and 21-8.

In addition, the SL3 men’s individual title, a test that was played in the group stage, went to Juan Antonio Ramírez, who finished with a total of three victories, ahead of Álex Santamaría, Antonio Osorio and Jaime Polo. Another test that was played in group format was the men’s doubles SL3-SH6 and was won by Alex Santamaría and Iván Segura, thanks to their two victories in as many matches. They were accompanied on the podium by Jaime Polo and Juan Antonio Ramírez as runners-up and Antonio Osorio and Ramón Vigil as bronze medalists.

Last but not least, this competition enjoyed the chair tests, in which Ignacio Fernández confirmed his high level. The Galician not only won gold in the individual event, beating Paco Motero in the final by a very even 21-14, 17-21 and 21-18, since he also won the doubles title together with Motero himself.

Inclusive National Circuit

This innovative competition that pits mixed pairs made up of athletes with and without disabilities against each other is already a classic of Spanish badminton. On Saturday the semifinals were played, which on the one hand measured Adrián Corrales and Cristina Sánchez against Enrique Fernández and Selenia Pla. After an intense battle of three sets, the pass to the final was achieved by Corrales and Sánchez, who won 21-18, 15-21 and 21-17. The other semifinal pitted Iván Segura and Silvia Redondo against Ignacio Fernández and Nelly Iriberri, the first to qualify to fight for the title (24-22 and 21-16).

The final of the inclusive National Circuit was the one that put the icing on the cake, with a great match between the duos Corrales-Sánchez and Segura-Redondo. The former took the lead but the duo of Segura and Redondo reacted and managed to come back. It was an exciting duel that was decided by details, as evidenced by the final result that indicated a 14-21, 24-22 and 24-22 favorable to Segura and Redondo.