The island of Lanzarote has been the setting this weekend for the Spanish U-23 Badminton Championship, a competition jointly organized by the Auria Badminton Club, the Spanish Badminton Federation, and the Canary Badminton Federation. Three intense days of competition were held at the facilities of the IES Blas Cabrera Felipe, in Arrecife, and have crowned Miguel Esteve (Alicante Intercity) and Cristina Teruel (Huelva) as the new Spanish champions of the U-23 category.
The competition began on Friday afternoon with the celebration of the first two elimination rounds, with the quarter-final and semi-final matches reserved for Saturday. Sunday morning began with the celebration of the men's and women's doubles finals, as well as the mixed doubles, and culminated with the finals of the men's and women's categories.
In the men's category, Miguel Esteve (Alicante Intercity), a player who started as the fourth seed, reached the grand final by defeating Yeray Carretero (21-12, 21-10), Guillermo de Montis (21-8, 21-14), and in the semi-finals, he got rid of Alejandro Pérez (13-21, 21-15, 21-17), the number one seed of the tournament. For his part, Manuel Calero (Cura Mora), won in the first round against Konrad Ludwik Drobnik (21-13, 21-10), and continued his path by winning against Ginés Vallés (21-18, 21-9), Fabián Gutiérrez (21-12, 21-10), and in the semi-finals, he defeated Alejandro Baschwitz (22-20, 18-21, 21-12).
In the grand final of the men's category, Miguel Esteve dominated the match, and the player from Alicante Intercity defeated Manuel Calero by 21-11 and 21-14, proclaiming himself the new Spanish champion of the U-23 category. Alejandro Pérez (CB IES La Orden) and Alejandro Baschwitz (Ciudad de Villalba) complete the podium of the men's category by obtaining the bronze medal.
Cristina Teruel (Huelva), the number one seed of the tournament, lived up to the predictions and reached the grand final by defeating Sonia Martínez (21-18, 21-14) in the semi-finals. For her part, Amaia Torralba (Club Bádminton Belmecher) accessed the final by winning against Karen Martín (21-4, 21-14) in the quarter-finals and against Ana Caballero (21-18, 21-18) in the semi-finals.
The final of the women's category had to be resolved in three sets, with Amaia Torralba taking the first set by a tight 18-21. The number one seed reacted to win the second set by 22-20 and the third by 21-12, proclaiming Cristina Teruel champion of Spain in the U-23 category. Sonia Martínez (Ciudad de Villalba) and Ana Caballero (Alicante Intercity) completed the podium of the women's category.
In the doubles category, the pair formed by Daniel Franco (Granada) and Rodrigo Sanjurjo (Club Bádminton AS Pontes) took the victory in the men's doubles, and the victory in the women's doubles went to the pair formed by Ana Caballero (Alicante Intercity) and Nikol Carulla (Club Bádminton AS Pontes). And the victory in the mixed doubles went to the team from Club Bádminton AS Pontes formed by Rodrigo Sanjurjo and Nikol Carulla.
The Spanish U-23 Badminton Championship concluded on Sunday at noon with the awards ceremony. An event in which the president of the Canary Badminton Federation, Florentín Rodríguez, was present, and who was accompanied by the Minister of Sports of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Juan Monzón, and the councilors of Sports of Arrecife and San Bartolomé, Eli Merino and Alexis Hernández, respectively.