The former world number 1 sets her sights high for Paralympic qualification and is off to a flying start in Antalya
Switzerland’s Karin Suter-Erath is one of Europe’s most decorated female para-badminton players. Yet the European Championships 2016 triple Gold Medallist has recently been unable to find the same kind of form that saw her reach the top of the world rankings.
The 48 year old was unable to lift a WH1 women’s singles title in 2018, coming close on a few occasions. Two hard fought finals in Spain and Japan pale in comparison to the epic European Championship final in November where Germany’s Valeska Knoblauch clinched victory 28-26 in the 3rd game to take Gold.
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So far this week, things are looking good for the Swiss. Topping Group B in the WH1 women’s singles with straight games wins over Japan’s Etsuko Kobayashi, Korea’s Kim Seung Suk and Belgain Man-Kei To. She had this to say
“I feel quite good! I’ve a tough group and the matches have reflected that. I’m delighted to have come through them the way I did and have been able to really get into the tournament”
Suter-Erath, seeded 2 now avoids both Knoblauch and Japan’s Sarina Satomi who pipped her to titles in 2018.
With teammate Cynthia Mathez, the WH1-2 women’s doubles also started well. Straight games wins in the group sees them reach a quarter final and one more hurdle before a guaranteed medal.
“Cynthia and I played well in doubles today, it’s so important to have a good start. We topped that group and have a bye to the quarter finals where we might face strong Chinese opposition so we’ll see!”
Follow her progress and look out for updates from the Turkish Para-Badminton International this week. For the full list of entries, see tournament software here with this link.