More than 13 000 people visited and more than 2 300 participated in the tournament of National Badminton Day, that was carried out on September 10th at the PGE Narodowy stadium in Warsaw. 51 badminton courts were put in the football stadium and populated by enthusiastic visitors.
It’s the first time ever that such an abundant group of Poles actively have participated in a sport event at PGE Narodowy. At 10 AM, the amateur and senior tournaments were launched. Half an hour later, the kids’ tournament registration desks were sieged by youth and their parents. Activities were led by three Polish Olympians - Robert Mateusiak, Nadieżda Zięba and Przemysław Wacha.
2300 individuals of all ages exploited a chance to play badminton in unique setup provided by the PGE Narodowy stadium in Warsaw. Participation interest was so significant that many guests were hitting shuttlecocks outside courts areas that tightly filled out stadium arena.
The central court was hosted by popular TV personalities Sylwia Dekiert and Rafał Patyra. Olympian Adrian Dziółko and the best Polish parabadminton player Bartłomiej Mróz opened competition on the central court. After an intergenerational mixed double match, Polish players received official expressions of gratitude for their performance during the Olympics in Rio. Secretary of State Andrzej Dera presented Robert Mateusiak with ‘Order of the Rebirth of Poland’ for outstanding achievements in sports. Nadieżda Zięba and Przemysław Wacha were presented with ‘Cross of Merit’.
Besides the badminton players, some of the biggest Polish sports stars took part in National Badminton Day as well; Piotr Małachowski (discus), Aleksandra Socha (modern pentathlon), Robert Korzeniowski (race walking), Artur Siódmiak (handball) and Witold Roman (volleyball) were present, among others. Siódmiak and Roman carried out a charity auction. The income was assigned for purposes of the Association of families of fallen soldiers “Memory and Future”.
The unique venue was supplemented with visual fireworks. Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov did their haka dance while being surrounded by 10-meter fire flames. The Russian duo won in an exhibition game against Przemysław Wacha and Adam Cwalina. Ivanov and Sozonov were amazed by the scope, comprehensiveness and execution of the National Badminton Day.
UKS Hubal Białystok won the Polish Cup, 3-0, with present national champion SKB Litpol-Malow Suwałki. Poland-Russia exhibition game and Polish Cup was broadcasted live by the national TV channel TVP Sport HD.
Marek Krajewski, Polish Badminton Association President, was very pleased with the event:
- Outstanding success of the Saturday event makes us think about next edition of the National Badminton Day. We’ve already prepared some spectacular surprises. National Badminton Day promotes our wonderful sport and stimulates Poles to take up sports actively.