By Sonia Schoenaker
The approach and constancy that Martín Casini puts to his dreams is admirable. He is 31 years old and his life revolves around the racket, the pen and the goal of reaching the top in the adapted bádminton.
He was born in Villa Mercedes, has an acting and since his childhood maintains a close link with the sport that has always characterized it. This year he managed to obtain his first bronze medal worldwide as a member of the Argentine team in this discipline.
When I was a child, the first thing he tried was football. While he practiced it in the neighborhood with his friends, he could never do it competitively.
“I always liked playing, but there I realized that it was different from the rest of the world,” he said in an interview that gave The chorrillero In the facilities of the Municipal Sports Palace, which is where it trains and also teaches.
In the course of his adolescence he met the adapted sports and consecrated himself in the Games Evita as athlete: bullet launch tests and 80 meters flat. At that time he was in high school at the “Juan Esteban Pedernera” National College.
At 17 he had to undergo a leg operation because they were arched and still remembered all the “physical and mental” pain he felt at that time.
The recovery process lasted a year and a half and brought great frustration. He felt his legs “were not those before”, and walking a block cost him horrors.
“I left the sport because I no longer had the same physique, I felt heavy, I suffered a lot the pains, so I said, I never play sports again, I dedicate myself to live life like this,” he said.
The years passed and in 2020, in the middle of Coronavirus pandemic, Martín reborn: “Many people did not help the confinement, but it gave me a very positive side, I click and I decided to do physical activity to be well with me and distract myself.”
With the help of acquaintances who are physical education professors began to train between the four walls of his house and when the exits were flexible, he attended classes that were provided in courtyards of other homes.
The passage of time caused the passion for sport to bloom again and began to play paddle tennis.
“I liked it a lot, I started training, living it, I recovered my physical form and I already felt better mentally because I was doing things well,” he said.
The Bádminton appeared in his life by a recommendation and the court turned his place in the world, although the first time he tried it seemed “boring” because the training was not what he imagined. His first steps were at the Arenas de la Pedrera stadium.
Everything changed when he traveled to the ditches, province of Córdoba, to participate in a tournament. There he met another more professional way to play and fell in love with discipline.
“What caught my attention was to see those in my category with the Argentine uniform. My dream was always to dress the light and white colors, so when I saw them I said here I go with everything,” he recalled.
In just months I was already competing outside the country. In 2022 he traveled to Brazil and qualified in the world ranking, in the SH6 category where low -carving players participate.
That year he also went to Colombia and Peru to play in South American tournaments and won awards in male and mixed doubles.
To be among the 50 best in the world, in 2023 he lost his points because he could not travel to Brazil, since the costs were high. This situation discouraged him, but Martin continued to train tirelessly.
Currently Casini integrates the Argentine National Team and represents its country with responsibility and commitment. In August of this year, the athlete returned to compete worldwide in Lima, Peru, and conquered the bronze medal in the double male, in the International Parabdminton tournament.
“In the second set I relaxed and enjoyed the game. When it finished it seemed that I took a backpack and already knew that I was going to achieve the medal,” he said.
In addition to playing and competing, Casini is currently a coach at the Municipal Sports Palace and has more than 50 students, in groups divided between children and adults.
“The outside players train six hours per day, just an hour because the rest of the time I am with the boys. But I keep choosing the Bádminton as the first option. I have left family members, friendships and even the courtship for this sport,” he said.
His next goal is already clear, and is to participate in the Pan American Games 2027 that will be carried out in Lima, since from there he is classified for the Paralympic Games: “It is very difficult because the squares are few, but I will work so that I do not happen again about 2023”.
When thanking, the first person who thinks the athlete is his mother, Ramona Aguilar, who accompanies him from the first moment and supports him in all his decisions, and assured that “if it were not for her, he could not compete.”
In addition, he mentioned his first coach, Laura Guiñazú, and her friend, Sofía Giovannini, “who drove me to travel when I doubted.”
He also recognized himself for moving forward: “I was the one before, I was not frustrated.”
“To see it two minutes every four years, now that the Bádminton is the sport that opened the doors to my dream is very crazy. I ended up having a connection with the feathers very large and left everything for this,” he concluded proudly.
Photos and video: Nahuel Sanchez
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