Badminton players reach for historic success. More Czech representatives have not yet qualified for one Olympics. The last time Petr Koukal and Kristína Gavnholt started under five rings was eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
“We are writing the history of Czech badminton, I am fulfilling my lifelong dream. Together with Ondra, we managed it as the first Czech couple, and it is something unreal,” said Mendrek. “Nobody would have thought even half a year ago that we would even have a chance. There were a lot of coincidences, we used them all. I can say with a clear conscience that we got the job done,” he added.
The results of the Pan American championship decided whether Mendrek and Král remained in the promotion ranks, where they were still threatened by the Brazilians Fabricio Farias and Davi Silva or the Mexicans Job Castillo and Luis Montoya Navarro. However, they did not achieve the required result. Mendrek and Král shone during the qualification, for example by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Arctic Open in October.
Czech singles number one Louda is certain to advance. He holds the 25th place in the ranking and the best 38 players will head to Paris. He kept the ranking despite his absence from the European Championship in Saarbrücken, which he missed due to a back injury.
Twenty-three-year-old Švábíková is ranked 31st in the ranking. She also kept it thanks to advancing to the round of 16 at the EC, where she eliminated one of her competitors, Polina Buhrova from Ukraine, in the second round. Her other rivals did not get significant results.
