He will take the field from January 29th to February 1st in Benalmàdena in Andalusia
“Mattia’s growth is continuous and constant, he earned the call with sweat”
LECCO – After 15 years another bluceleste from Lecco Badminton & Croquet Club Lecco, Mattia Cattaneowill wear the Italian national team shirt at the “Spanish Open U15” which will be played from 29 January to 1 February 2026 in the south of Spain in Benalmàdena in Andalusia.
It was 2021 when a 9-year-old boy who wanted to play badminton showed up at the gym. We start with minibadminton, a combination of games and racket and then move on to U13 competitive sports at the age of 10. Mattia, very polite and calm, already knows how to use the racket so it wasn’t difficult to play and have fun with him.
Weeks pass, he begins to improve and before turning 10 he begins to do some training with the unders and then definitively moves to their group. Always present at training sessions, he follows the coach’s instructions with dedication, an example even for the older ones. His path continues at the Club and is later included in the group of the Lombardy Territorial Technical Center which is located in Milan at the Palabadminton. Now the training sessions are intensified, two/three training sessions in Lecco and two in Milan every week and any tournaments that are played over two days, Saturday and Sunday. Here the great commitment of mother Chiara and father Nicola also comes into play as they have to accompany him to the city.
In 2025 he was called up for two “U15 National Technical” rallies of one week each. His National palmares already includes two National U13 Men’s Doubles titles – 2023 and 2024, again in 2024 second place in the U13 Men’s Singles, third in the U13 Mixed Doubles, and second in the U15 Mixed Doubles in 2025. The national ranking in the three categories is also excellent. He also competed in two International Tournaments, arriving at the foot of the podium.
Great enthusiasm and happiness for all club members for the convocation, especially for the coaches Edvidio Milani with which he started from Minibadminton, Alessandro Redaelli until mid-2024 and now with Luca Zanchin who follows him with great attention in training and tournaments.
The president Dennis Passador: “Mattia’s growth is continuous and constant, he earned the call-up with sweat. I wish good luck to Rosario Maddaloni, a great player of the Italian national team and now selector of the U15 national team who will accompany Mattia and Luca Li Bohong, doubles partner, in this Azzurri adventure.”
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