Peruvian badminton returns to the fore with Inés Castillo

Inés Castillo once again brought badminton out of anonymity. She had to do it her way: bringing medals. This time a bronze and at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. These results have given him the license to demand that the presence of this professional game be expanded in Peru.

“It is one of the most important achievements I have had so far. Getting a medal in the Pan American Games is very difficult, since they are every 4 years,” says the 23-year-old multi-medallist. On this occasion the victory came in the mixed doubles category.

He won with José Guevara. Although she did not suffer the same fate in the women’s doubles or the singles, this would represent an important sum of points for her to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. “It is the next objective,” she mentioned. Meanwhile, she will warm up with complementary tournaments “until July.”

His premature foray into the sport also helped him profile. “I started playing around the age of 10 because of my dad. He played it, he saw it as a family sport, it didn’t seem like a strange sport to me at all like it does to many,” he indicated. “After leaving school I began to give more priority to this sport,” he said. And he added: “From that year my sacrifices began.”

Castillo recognizes not only that the El Legado headquarters “helped to popularize badminton.” He also gets excited
when mentioning that this sport “is no longer only in Lima, but also other provinces.” “We have Piura, Trujillo and even Tingo María,” he adds.

Despite this, he asked for “more image” for the sport. This is “for future generations, it will create more opportunities, there will be more competition.” “Sport is very important for the development of a country,” she mentions. Likewise, he points out, it is superlative to have “more coliseums, those special ones where external light does not enter (…) also the rackets, the shoes, the courts.”

“The truth is that it is a shame that he is not well known because he is very fun and very dynamic, very versatile. It is not monotomous, it always changes, there is a lot of technique, a lot of tactics,” he concluded.