Penultimate day in Alcudia, Spain at the first Para-Badminton competition of the year and the standard of play was among the highest we’ve seen at a European International
One of the most enjoyable matches to watch today was the SU5 men’s singles semi-final, in which Europe’s highest ranked player Bartlomiej Mroz (POL), the number 2 seed and world number 3 was up against good friend Tay Wei Ming (SIN). A great start for Mroz, typical of the Polish number 1, taking the opening game 21-16. Mroz had this to say right after the match
“I feel so good, it was an amazing performance and amazing game. The level was so high! It was a great experience, even losing today. Neither of us deserved to lose”
It was Tay Wei Ming from Singapore who held on to close out the second game 15-21, and a massive amount of nerve needed late on in the third which he came through 19-21
“It was pretty awesome! I haven’t played against Bart for 2 years and to have such an amazing match, I kept my composure, I’m so happy. What a great game!”
He will face Turkey’s Ilker Tuzcu in tomorrow’s SU5 men’s singles final, who comfortably despatched Japan’s Taiyo Imai in 2 games in their semi-final
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England dominate the SS6 category
With players in every final on Sunday, England are on a role in SS6. Biggest shock of the day was caused when the world number 24 Isaak Dalglish (ENG) knocked out the 2017 World Championship bronze medallist and world number 3 Wong Chun Yim (HKG) in 3 games that were full of tension. Dalglish went on to the semi-finals to face team mate Krysten Coombs who showed he had too much his power and experience to prevent any further upset. Coombs set up and all-English final once again, against World Champion Jack Shephard on Sunday.
Whilst Rachel Choong continues to shine in the women’s SS6 class, just one player features in all 3 finals tomorrow. Germany’s SL4 Katrin Siebert living up to her number seeded position in women’s singles, SL3-SU5 mixed doubles and SL3-SU5 women’s doubles.
One hope remains in the wheelchair categories
World Number 1 in WH1 women’s singles, Karin Suter-Erath (SUI) is the only European wheelchair player to make it through to Sunday’s finals, doing so without dropping a game all week.
Out of 20 finals in total, 16 players or pairs from Europe have made it through, with a potential of 11 gold medals going Europe’s way. We are wishing the very best of luck to all players competing tomorrow in Mallorca.
You can read more about what it takes to host a Para-Badminton International in our article earlier this week.
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