The 2018 European Badminton Championships concluded last week after a busy event in Huelva from April 24-29. President of the Spanish Badminton Federation, David Cabello was also leading the organizing committee and looks back at the week with pride.
Cabello is excited about the amount of people that came to Carolina Marin Sports Hall to watch the badminton event live. He explains the event as the best European Badminton Championships that has ever been;
- Not just for the great performances of the top players throughout the week, but also for the attendance that has filled-up the venue each session. Taking into account that although Carolina’s final was the second one, the spectators enjoyed the finals until the end when the Adcocks’ comeback was supported by a crowd of +3,000 spectators.
- On behalf of Badminton Spain and all institutions which have worked in the event, we have shown more than badminton, fun and entertainment with badminton as reference. We have gone a step forward in how to manage an event like this increasing the standards to offer European badminton players and fans a high-level-event.
Carolina’s success
The president and BWF council member is also relieved that the favourite for the women’s singles gold was able to deliver for the home crowd in Huelva.
- We can’t hide that the event took place in Huelva due to Carolina wanted to be gold medalist in her hometown.
- Carolina is a safe bet and she didn’t fail; on the organization hand, we did our best to reach the high-quality-standards in all areas and to boost the Carolina’s success in the correct way.
Promoting badminton in Spain
Cabello, who is also chair of BWF’s Development & Sport For All Committee, hoped that this event would show more than ‘just badminton’. They organized a bundle of activities which would involve the event to increase the exposure to the population.
- We developed long-term Shuttle Time activities with the aim to give pupils the opportunity to know and enjoy through this event reaching +7,500 pupils on the three-first-days sessions.
- Moreover, we had created a communication strategy where TV, newspapers, digital media and social networks spread the information in many ways. All this work had as culmination the TV production with new camera shoots in presentation and rallies what showed the spectacular of our sport in more than 60 countries all around the world. A big step forward which Badminton Spain wants to carry on in the future as Badminton Europe traveling companion.
Find the list of winners of the 2018 European Championships here