Karin Suter-Erath justified her top billing, capturing three golds at the European Para-Badminton Championships in Murcia, Spain, while England’s Martin Rooke won two golds and a silver.
The top seed in WH 1 Women’s Singles, Suter-Erath of Switzerland (featured image) beat Germany’s Valeska Knoblauch, 21-9 21-5, in last Sunday’s final while also recording victories in Mixed Doubles and Women’s Doubles to be the outstanding competitor of the four-day tournament in Murcia, Spain.
In WH 1-2 Women’s Doubles she and compatriot, Sonja Haesler, wrested top honours. Again it was Knoblauch – partnered by German team-mate, Elke Rongen – who was in Suter-Erath’s way but the Swiss pair prevailed, 21-17 18-21 21-12. Ironically, Suter-Erath and Haesler were on opposing sides of the net for the finale of the WH 1-2 Mixed Doubles. Haesler and France’s David Toupé lost 21-15 21-8 to Suter-Erath and Rooke.
Englishman Rooke’s other success came in WH 2 Men’s Singles as he cruised past Francois Nalborczyk of France, 21-9 21-6. Rooke capped a satisfying meet with a silver medal in the WH 1-2 Men’s Doubles as he and Turkey’s Avni Kertmen fell 21-11 21-13 to Toupé and Thomas Wandschneider of Germany (below). Wandschneider battled Toupé for the WH1 Men’s Singles title and, in a marathon one hour and 17 minutes, emerged victorious: 20-22 21-12 21-15.
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Emine Seckin got the better of her Turkish countrywoman Narin Uluc in WH2 Women’s Singles – 21-10 21-7 to the top seed.
In the standing classes, Norway’s Helle Sofie Sagoy (below) marked her country’s maiden participation in the championships with two gold medals. In SU 5 Women’s Singles, she beat Denmark’s Julie Thrane, 21-17 21-13, and partnered England’s Bobby Griffin to glory in the SL 3-SU 5 Mixed Doubles. Again it was Thrane who lost out as she and Daniel Bethell (England) were defeated 21-16 23-21. The latter, however, won the SL3 Men’s Singles final, ousting No.2 seed, Simon Cruz Mondejar of Spain, 21-11 21-14. Mondejar in turn teamed up with Germany’s Jan-Niklas Pott to claim the SL3-SL4 Men’s Doubles 21-13 21-12 over Daniel Lee (England) and Colin Leslie (Scotland).
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Another notable winner was Turkey’s Ilker Tuzcu who took home two gold medals. The No.2 seed beat top seed Bartlomiej Mroz of Poland in the SU 5 Men’s Singles showdown (21-18 21-14) after having won the SU 5 Doubles (mixed-gender event) with Mroz. They brushed aside Eyal Bechar of Israel and Frenchman Colin Kerouanton, 21-14 21-14.
It was another case of top seed being outdone by the No.2 seed in the SS 6 Men’s Singles final. Niall McVeigh of Ireland was beaten 21-16 21-14 by England’s Andrew Martin (below). In the SL 4 Men’s Singles, Lucas Mazur (France) won 21-14 21-18 versus England’s Antony Forster.
Held at the High Performance Center, the championships have been hailed a success which showcased a competitively high standard of play. Featuring 104 athletes from 19 nations with three newcomers – Finland, Norway and Serbia – the tournament underlined that para-badminton is moving in the right direction and appealing to more fans globally.
“The championships were a huge success. The level of play exceeded all expectations and the number of new countries participating and new champions crowned shows how far para-badminton has come as a truly competitive and entertaining sport,” said Championship Director, Carmen Martinez Villanueva.
A noteworthy element was that the hosts (Physical Disability Sports Federation – Murcia) showed a genuine desire to create a truly accessible event with the High Performance Center in Los Alcazares being specifically renovated to cater to para-sport requirements. They were well supported by major contributing partners, the Spanish Badminton Federation and the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Physically Disabled.
“This is a great step on their part which ensures para-badminton tournaments can be held in Spain, to the appropriate standards, for many years to come,” noted BWF Vice-President – Para-Badminton, Paul Kurzo, who attended the championships.
* See full tournament results here.
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PARA-BADMINTON SPORT CLASSES
The classification process categorises players according to their disabilities and to ensure fairness, depending on minimal impairment for a particular class/group. In para-badminton, there are six sport classes:
WH 1 – a player in this class requires wheelchair to play badminton. They usually have impairment in both lower limbs and trunk function.
WH 2 – a player in this class could have impairment in one or both lower limbs and minimal or no impairment of the trunk.
SL 3 – in this class a player must play standing. The player could have impairment in one or both lower limbs and poor walking/running balance.
SL 4 – a second standing class where the player has a lesser impairment compared to Sport Class SL 3. The player could have impairment in one or both lower limbs and minimal impairment in walking/running balance.
SU 5 – the player in this class has impairment of the upper limbs.
SS 6 – these are players who have a short stature due to a genetic condition often referred to as “dwarfism”.
N.B.
WH = wheelchair
SL = standing lower
SU = standing upper
SS = short stature
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* WH 1-2 = combined class of WH 1 and WH 2
* SL3-SL4 = combined class of SL 3 and SL 4
* SL 3-SU 5 = combined class of SL 3, SL 4 and SU 5