BADMINTON
The Iberdrola Women’s Club Cup 2023 already knows its champions: the CB Rinconada Sevilla players. The title was decided this Sunday at the Rafael del Pino Sports Complex in Toledo after a weekend full of emotions, in which the good atmosphere has been one of the great protagonists, and after a final in which the corner players have revalidated the title won in 2022 by having beaten CB Oviedo 3-1.
The final day was witnessed live by Rubén Lozano, Sports Director of the Toledo City Council, Raúl Rodriguez, Deputy Director General of Legal Regime of the Higher Sports Council, Andoni Azurmendi, President of the Spanish Badminton Federation, David de la Cruz, President of the Badminton Federation of Castilla la Mancha, Diana Martín, member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Badminton Federation, and Laura López, Head of sports sponsorship at Iberdrola, the main promoter of this event.
The authorities not only followed the matches that decided the champions, but also participated in the medal presentation and joined the traditional family photo that brought together athletes, coaches, referees, members of the organization, volunteers, etc.
The competition started with excitement and equality in equal measure. In Group 1, the current champions of Rinconada presented their candidacy for the title after beating Estella (5-0) and Guadalajara (4-1) with authority, while the Navarrese team went to the quarterfinals as second thanks to their victory over the La Mancha team. (5-0), who were eliminated.
As for Group 2, the 2020 champions and 2022 runners-up CB Oviedo also advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to their wins over Benalmádena (4-1) and Soria (4-1). The Sorianas continued in the competition after having defeated the Benalmadenses in the first round of matches (4-1).
Group 3 was dominated by San Fernando Valencia, who scored a resounding victory over Huesca La Magia (5-0) and also defeated AD Cura Mora (4-1). The Extremaduran players came second, as they beat the Aragonese players (4-1).
Finally, the women’s section of the current TOP10 IBERDROLA champion, IES La Orden, took first place in Group 4 by beating Athlos (4-1) and Astures (4-1). Second place in the group went to the Galicians, winners of their duel against the Asturians (4-1).
Quarter finals
The draw for the eight best women’s clubs on the national scene paired Rinconada Sevilla with Soria; to Recreativo IES La Orden with AD Cura Mora; to San Fernando Valencia with Athlos and to CB Oviedo with Estella. In this round the predictions were fulfilled, since the corner players beat Soria 3-1; The people from Huelva defeated Cura Mora (3-0); The Valencians beat Athlos (3-1) and the Asturians defeated Estella (3-0).
In this way, CB Rinconada Sevilla and Recreativo IES La Orden met in a top-level semifinal. It is not in vain that we talk, on the one hand, about the current champions of the Iberdrola Cup and, on the other, about the women’s section of the current TOP10 champion Iberdrola. The excitement was also served in the other semifinal, which pitted Oviedo against San Fernando Valencia, two of the leading teams in the TOP10 Iberdrola.
Semifinals
The battles to advance to the grand final opened the second day of competition. On the main court, Rinconada began by striking first thanks to the comeback of Leona Lee and Wei Xu over Belén Rodríguez and Daniella Gonda (10-11, 11-3, 11-7 and 11-2). The albiazules have equalized things through Haidee Ojeda and Laura Santos, who defeated Claudia Leal and Laura Molina (11-8, 11-9 and 11-10), but the corner players did not collapse and signed two consecutive victories that They helped them get into the final: María Merchán beat Natalia Martínez (11-5, 11-5 and 11-9) and Wei Xu beat Daniella Gonda (11-9, 11-7 and 11-7). In this way, the current champions made their way to a new final.
In the other semifinal, CB Oviedo beat a San Fernando Valencia 3-0 that never stopped fighting and was able to win some of the games. In the first match, the Asturian Laura Álvarez and Ruth Veiguela had to work hard to score the first point for their team after four close sets (11-8, 11-9, 8-11 and 11-5). A similar script was seen in the following doubles duel, in which Amaia Torralba and Kristina Sotomayor defeated Elena Lorenzo and Silvia Ferrandis (11-10, 11-7 and 11-10). The final point was achieved by Laura Garijo by coming back against Ángela Viray (6-11, 11-6, 11-2 and 11-2).
The grand finale
All eyes were focused on the duel for the title, which began with the corner team taking the initiative. Leona Lee and Wei Xu beat Laura Álvarez and Ruth Veiguela in a tough match that was not decided until the fourth set (11-7, 11-10, 8-11 and 11-3). The doubles by Claudia Leal and Laura Molina brought the Andalusian team closer to the title, as they were able to resolve a very intense confrontation against Amaia Torralba and Kristina Sotomayor in three sets (11-10, 11-9 and 11-9).
The Asturian team managed to close the gap through Laura Garijo, as she beat María Merchan in three sets (11-3, 11-6, 7-11 and 11-6). However, Rinconada did not resent this setback and sealed the final through Wei Xu, who gave Ruth Veiguela no option (11-3, 11-0 and 11-4).
The best players of the Iberdrola Cup
This edition of the Iberdrola Cup also did not lack MVP awards for the most outstanding players in each category. On this occasion the awards, which were presented by Laura López and Diana Martín, went to Noa Vidan, best U15 player with a balance of 33% victories; Daniela Corchón, best U17 player with a balance of 75% wins; Celia de Lara, best U19 player with a record of 60% wins; Silvia Ferrandis, best Senior player with a balance of 60% wins; and Andrea Arrones best Absolute player with a balance of 100% victories.
2023-09-19 08:49:42
#Badminton #Rinconada #Sevilla #reigns #Iberdrola #Cup
