After 10 days of badminton action, we came to the end of a successful and entertaining 2021 European U17 Championships in Podcetrtek, Slovenia, also the location where Badminton Europe hosts it’s BEC Summer School.
Badminton Europe President, Peter Tarcala, was at the event and was delighted with how everything came together.
-It’s been brilliant. Thanks to Badminton Slovenia for organising another great event for us. And, of course, in these difficult times it was very well-organised and everything went smoothly.
There was some fantastic young talent on show in the team and individual event. On semifinals day of the individual event we had a sensational 11 different nations represented, meaning that they all proudly stepped onto the podium for a medal.
-I was positively surprised about the level of the competition and the play we could see on the courts. Medals have been spread all over Europe which is a great development and also the five gold medals are going to four different countries, so we hope for a bright future and, of course, we still have to work together in Europe to compete worldwide.
Happy faces
Many of the young players at the tournament waited quite some time to return to the court. Badminton Europe’s motto when working towards the championships with the host organiser was that the young players deserve the opportunity to compete and express themselves on court. They were able to play, and thus saw so many happy faces in Slovenia.
-It’s so important to organise events especially for athletes that are so young. It will motivate them after many months sitting at home. Being able to come to the hall and compete at a European level is something that is really appreciated and well-deserved, Tarcala said.
There is a busy badminton calendar ahead and there is hope towards the same in 2022. There were COVID-19 safety restrictions and testing in place at the championships. Everyone was able to adapt to the rules and the event went ahead smoothly. This for Peter Tarcala is yet another symbol for optimism moving forward.
-I hope we can continue with this. We can fight together in these difficult times and have more events in the near future but also through 2022.