Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, March 13.- With the presence of 70 players, 36 of them from the ten visiting countries, the XXIV Havana Giraldilla International Badminton Tournament began at the Ciudad Deportiva coliseum.
The main incentive of the tournament is that it grants points for the world ranking while also being a qualifier for the Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games.
After this traditional event in the Cuban capital, only the Challenger tournaments in Brazil and Havana, in March, and the Pan American tournament in Lima, Peru, in April, remain for this qualifying process.
Cuba, as host, entered 34 players in the Giraldilla, while the Dominican Republic - with eight athletes -, El Salvador (7) and Venezuela (6) are the other nations with the largest numbers.
The United States and Colombia compete with three players each; Paraguay, Malta, Mexico and Bulgaria with two each, and Portugal with one.
On the first day, 43 matches in the singles and mixed doubles categories, Cuba's main female figure TaymaraOropesa had no trouble advancing to the quarterfinals after defeating Salvadoran Gabriela Barrios with partial scores of 21-8 and 21-17.
This Friday, shortly before 12 noon, she will face Dominican Alissa Acosta, who defeated Venezuelan María de losÁngeles Rojas 21-12 and 21-18.
The other winners from the top of the draw were Colombian Juliana Giraldo and Venezuelan Bárbara Lamas, and from the bottom, Mexican Sara Delgado and MariangelGarcía, also from Venezuela, and Dominicans Daniela Acosta and Francesca Clark from Malta.
The only match that went to three games among the women was the one dominated by Acosta 21-16, 14-21 and 26-24, which could have also been a victory for Cuban Erly Cabrera, who has excellent physical condition, but she didn't know how to control her emotions when the score was tied at 24, received a red card, and the rival sealed it in her favor.
In the men's division, Cuba's top male player, Roberto Carlos Herrera, also performed as expected, defeating Dominican ErnickZorrilla 21-11 and 21-9 and his compatriot, the national team's number two, Juan Carlos Bencomo, in a match that extended to three sets: 21-10, 10-21 and 21-13.
Meanwhile, the local U-19 player, Iker Herrera, managed to defeat Bulgarian Denis Marinov by 22-20, 16-21 and 21-19, but his inspiration was halted by the number one seed, Salvadoran Uriel Canjura, dominant with scores of 21-9 and 21-14.
In mixed doubles, three Dominican pairs advanced to the quarterfinals, along with two from El Salvador and one each from Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia.
For the home team, Roberto Carlos Herrera and TaymaraOropesa advanced to the quarterfinals without playing due to receiving a bye in the initial round and the no-show of their Venezuelan opponents.
They will clash this Friday with Salvadorans Manuel Mejía and Daniela Hernández, winners over locals José Labrada and Angely Pita.
This Friday there will be another extensive program corresponding to the quarterfinals in all five categories, starting at 9:35 a.m. (Text and photo: JIT)
