The XXXIII San Julián Fair and Fiestas Badminton Tournament was once again held successfully thanks to the participation of nearly a hundred athletes from different provinces of the region and other autonomous communities, such as Alicante, Valencia, Madrid, Toledo or Albacete. Players from different towns in Cuenca also participated, who did not want to miss this traditional event. Specifically, a total of 93 participants, among the different categories and modalities, competed at a high level in the Samuel Ferrer municipal pavilion, which hosted this competition over the weekend, where more than two hundred games were played. “We are very happy with the development of the competition both for the number of participants and for the level shown by each of them,” explains the president of Albatros Cuenca, Agustín Jiménez.

On Saturday, the matches were played in the sub11, sub15 and absolute categories, both in the female and male modality. In sub11, Irene Vega and Saúl Álvarez, both from the Albatros Cuenca Badminton Schools, prevailed. In sub15 the dominance of the club from the capital of Cuenca was repeated again, with the victories of Kristina Stanislavova and Rubén Martínez. The same thing happened in the absolute, since Jimena Alonso and Jaime Caudín took the victory after a great competition for them. These games showed that the young promises have been going strong and that there is a very promising future. “Boys and girls played very well throughout the tournament,” says Jiménez.

On Sunday it was the turn for the veteran players, as well as for the women’s, men’s and mixed doubles competition. In all of them a great level of play was shown again and emotion was the predominant note. Specifically, the organization details that the competition team in the veteran category was made up of 16 boys and two girls, all of them over 40 years of age. In addition, 13 couples signed up for women’s doubles, 17 for men’s doubles and 24 for mixed doubles.

Podium. As for results, Vanesa Castellanos took the victory in the women’s veteran singles and Pablo Lozano did the same in the men’s. Again, the two players belonging to Badminton Albatros Cuenca. A domain that was also repeated in men’s and women’s doubles. Gisela and Jimena Alonso achieved victory in the women’s doubles, while Jesús de la Mata and Guillermo Martínez claimed victory in the men’s doubles. For their part, Marta Valeriano and Jaime Caudín conquered the first drawer of the podium in mixed doubles.

After all the matches of all categories and modalities were held, with a total of 201 matches, the trophies were handed out and gifts were drawn. The closing ceremony was attended by the Councilor for Sports, Charo Rodríguez, and the councilors of the corporation Julián Niño and Rafael Rodríguez.

Agustín Jiménez makes a “very positive” balance of the XXXIII Badminton Tournament of the San Julián Fair and Festival and stresses that badminton is in very good health in the city, as has been verified in this appointment.