Taymara Oropesa, from Holguin, has advanced to the semifinal round of the 24th Giraldilla International Badminton Tournament in Havana. Scheduled for this Saturday starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Sports City Coliseum.
Oropesa, the leading figure in this sport. Qualified in all three possible categories: singles, mixed doubles with Roberto Carlos Herrera, and women’s doubles with Leyanis Contreras.
Taymara secured her spot in singles by defeating Dominican Alissa Acosta (21-15 and 21-10) and will face Colombian Juliana Giraldo. Who defeated Venezuelan Bárbara Lamas in three sets (17-21, 21-9, 21-11).
The home team has never lost to Giraldo, and in their last encounter, they defeated her 2-0 during the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, where they won the silver medal.
However, she’s no pushover. The visitor has competitive experience, including in the Spanish league. Also where Juliana’s team won the title, as the Cuban’s coach, Humberto Daudinot, pointed out.
In the other semifinal, Venezuelan Mariangel García, who dominated Mexican Sara Delgado (21-15, 21-14), will face Francesca Clark of Malta. Also who defeated Dominican Daniela Aosta in the quarterfinals in three hard-fought sets (21-15, 20-22, 21-17).
Taymara will be joined in mixed doubles by Herrera, a key player on the men’s side. The Salvadoran pair of Javier Alas and Margareth Revelo will face off against the Dominican duo of Yonatan Linarez and Nairoby Jiménez. While the other match will pit the Dominican pair of Yonatan Linarez and Nairoby Jiménez against the Colombian siblings Jerónimo and Juliana Giralo.
Tay and Roberto Carlos defeated Manuel Mejía and Daniela Hernández of El Salvador on Friday with scores of 21-16 and 21-17.
The other semifinal featuring the host nation will be in women’s doubles, where Oropesa and Contreras will try to defeat the Dominican pair of Alissa Acosta and Daniela Acosta.
The Cuban women defeated their compatriots, the young Yusleidis Álvarez, just 12 years old, and Natalia de Arredondo, 21-3, 21-6. While the Acosta sisters defeated Venezuelans Mariangel García and María Rojas in a hard-fought match that ended 17-21, 21-6, 23-21.
Pairs from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela will also compete for a spot in Sunday’s final.
In men’s singles, Salvadoran Uriel Canjura, runner-up at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, will face Mexican Jaime Magaña. And Salvadoran Javier Alas will play against the other favorite, Portuguese Bruno Carvalho.
The Giraldilla tournament in Havana awards points toward the world ranking and serves as a qualifier for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo. The only remaining tournaments to qualify for the Dominican capital are the Challenger tournaments in Brazil and Havana in March. And the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, in April.
With information from CNA
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