European Senior Badminton Championships kick off in Heusden-Zolder
The Velodrome in Heusden-Zolder in Limburg is hosting the European Senior Badminton Championships from Sunday until 31 August. More than 1,500 players from 31 countries are taking part.
The tournament is the second biggest in the sport, after the World Senior Championships. It has five disciplines: men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles. These are further divided into nine age categories, from 35 to 75+. An average of 390 matches are scheduled for each day.
The total of 1,569 players taking part “exceeds our wildest expectations, we had expected 1,300 participants,” organiser Johan Verhagen told VRT. “That's quite a lot of organisation, the tournament has never been this big before. Fortunately, we can count on 130 volunteers to keep everything on track.”
One of the Belgians to watch is Frédéric Gaspard, who won gold in Slovenia in 2022 in the 35+ category. The oldest Belgian participant is 75-year-old Nelly Halsberghe.
The preliminary rounds take place until 28 August, followed by the quarter-finals on 29 August and the semi-finals on 30 August. The finals take place on 31 August.
The event is a collaboration between Heusden-Zolder’s municipal council, local badminton club Smash, the Royal Belgian Badminton Federation and Badminton Europe. Entry is free, but matches are also available on Badminton Europe TV's live stream on YouTube.
#FlandersNewsService | The women's doubles quarter-finals at the German Open, March 2024 © PHOTO IMAGO
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