After the recently concluded 2024 European U15 Championships, it is impressive to see the level of our young players spread across the continent.
The event united players from 34 different member countries and saw the best athletes from each nation compete at the highest stages for their age group. This event has become a springboard for many new stars who badminton fans can sure keep an eye on in the future.
It’s wonderful to see so many countries represented throughout the tournament. Looking at the semifinals, players from 13 countries were represented, including Lithuania, Denmark, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, England, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium, and Scotland.
The efforts made by the respective federations are clearly paying off, and the future of European badminton looks brighter than ever.
"La Marseillaise" was heard loudly in Suwalki
France was the big winner of the championships, with "La Marseillaise" being played three times after they won gold in the men's singles (MS), mixed doubles (XD), and men's doubles (MD) categories. In women's singles (WS), it was the highly impressive and athletic Wiktoria Kalekta who claimed the championship, defeating formidable opponent Varvara Poperezhai, who took the silver medal. Poperezhai also earned a bronze medal in the women’s doubles (WD). In the women’s doubles category, Shraddha Gopalakrishnan and Martha Ng from the United Kingdom, both of whom participated in the BEC Summer School in Tallinn earlier this summer, were also noteworthy contenders.