News marks Brazil’s badminton at the Paralympic Games

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be immortalized by badminton in Brazil. The unprecedented achievements of a medal, the bronze won by Vitor Tavares, and a victory in the women’s section, with Daniele Souza, marked the historic participation of Brazil in this sport in the edition held in the French capital. The main achievement of the sport in the most important event on the planet was the result of the investment made by the Brazilian Badminton Confederation (CBBd) and the efforts of all the athletes and professionals involved.

“The Confederation is extremely happy and satisfied with what was presented at Paris-2024. These were fantastic and unprecedented results. Very relevant results for the support, motivation and visibility of this sport. It was important for the athletes and for the growth of the sport. These results belong to all those who practice, enjoy and play badminton and para-badminton. It is a great pride to be part of this historic moment”, analyzed José Roberto Santini Campos, president of the CBBd.

Evolution between cycles

Vitor Tavares, of the SH6 class, Rogério Oliveira, of the SL4, and Daniele Souza, of the WH1, were the representatives of Brazil in Paris-2024. However, during the cycle, several athletes had opportunities, six to seven of them fought to qualify for the Paralympic Games until the last races. The period between Tokyo-2020, held in 2021, and the edition in the French capital was short, but the evolution was clear, with the increase from one to three participants and the debut of a female athlete.

Victor Lee, coordinator of parabadminton at CBBd, highlighted the growth of the sport from its first appearance on the Paralympic programme in Tokyo 2020 to its second edition in Paris 2024. “The evolution has occurred both in the number of athletes and in the results. In Tokyo we had one athlete and he came fourth. In Paris there were three, including walkers and wheelchair users and both sexes, and one bronze in a fierce contest, with nine of the 11 athletes medalling at the World Championships or Paralympic Games,” the director said.

Excellent support

The support for the athletes was also excellent, both through the CBBd and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB). The three badminton athletes and the multidisciplinary team completed an acclimatization period of about ten days in Troyes, a city in France. Professionals from the administrative side, the technical committee and the assistance of sparring partners contributed to the preparation. This planning phase was aimed at providing good conditions for the athletes and significant results demonstrate that the execution achieved the objectives set.

Campaign for medals

Vitor Tavares needed a recovery campaign to put the bronze medal on his chest. He lost in the first two rounds, one of them against the Frenchman Charles Noakes, who would become the Paralympic champion. With a triumph in the last round, he secured the quarterfinals and, playing at a high level, advanced to the semifinals, where he met the French athlete again. Despite the setback, the Brazilian raised his head and gave his all to fight for third place.

“We knew that there were five or six athletes in Vitor’s category who could be crowned champion or finish sixth. So much so that the Indian (Krishna Nagar), Paralympic champion in Tokyo, did not even reach the quarterfinals. The British (Krysten Coombs), who was third in the last edition, has now won silver. And Vitor, previously fourth, won bronze in Paris-2024. Vitor and the British athlete have moved up a position”, the president underlined.

“It is an extremely competitive category and Vitor is like all the others. He is among the best and has made a fantastic recovery”, added José Roberto. Victor Lee also praised the result obtained by the bronze medal. “It is important to remember that this is the greatest achievement of this sport in Brazil, Paralympic and conventional. This medal consolidates the work of many and allows us to enter the hall of references of this sport. Important for Brazilian parabadminton and the Americas”, emphasizes the coordinator.

The dream becomes reality

Responsible for one of the achievements, Vitor Tavares commented on the game of conquest. “I am very happy to be a Paralympic medalist. An unprecedented medal not only in my career, but also for Brazilian badminton. It was a relief. I knew it would not be an easy match and that it would be decided mentally. He gave us a jolt and we went strong. I remained firm and minimized mistakes to have this medal in my hands. It is a dream come true”, said the athlete.

Unprecedented victory among women

After making history by becoming the first Brazilian badminton player to compete at the Paralympic Games, Daniele Souza achieved another remarkable feat in the Paris-2024 edition. She defeated Canadian Chokyu Yuka, 2 sets to 1, an unprecedented triumph for the country in the women’s category. The Brazilian was facing Paralympic runner-up Sujirat Pookkham, from Thailand, in her debut, and Guang-Chiou Hu, from Taiwan, who lost in the quarterfinals to Japan’s Sarina Satomi, WH1 gold medalist.

“Daniele had a great participation. In the first match he already faced one of the best in the world. Then he played against a Canadian and achieved the first victory in women’s parabadminton, something unprecedented. I think it is important to emphasize that Daniele finished the competition in seventh place, a sensational position”, emphasized the representative of the CBBd, who praised the award the player received from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

“Everyone knows that the first, second and third place winners receive medals, but the IPC, as well as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), also awards prizes to the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place. It is not a medal, but a diploma that defines the position that these athletes had during their participation in the Games. Therefore, Daniele leaves Paris with a seventh place diploma, a fantastic result for someone who is participating for the first time and for a female debut”, concluded José Roberto.

Good performances in a difficult group

Like Daniele, Rogério Oliveira also participated for the first time in the Paralympic Games and had to face a very complicated scoreboard. The Brazilian player opened his participation in the edition of the French capital against the Indian Tarun Tarun, world champion of the SL4 class in 2013 and 2015. He then found himself facing Lucas Mazur, French dominator of the category. The European had been gold medalist in Tokyo-2020 and repeated the feat by climbing to the top step of the podium also in Paris-2024.

“Rogério had a very difficult group. It was his debut at the Paralympic Games and in a very competitive category. He had a very good first match. Then he caught the two-time Paralympic and world champion. Indeed, the Frenchman is an athlete to beat in this class. But I think he had a good race, behaving as expected. He is a young athlete who should evolve for the next cycle”, praised the president. Rogério ended his participation in Paris-2024 in ninth place.

Source: Terra

Rose

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