WOMEN'S BADMINTON
WOMEN'S BADMINTON
Iberdrola and women's badminton make history
Iberdrola is the main driving force behind women's badminton. Thanks to an agreement with the federation and the invaluable help of Carolina Marín — one of the best players of all time — the company is helping to raise the profile of this sport at home and beyond our borders.
The agreement between Iberdrola and the Royal Spanish Badminton Federation External link, opens in new window. turns the company into the sport's main driver in our country. Under the agreement, the top national competition — made up of 16 clubs — will be renamed the Liga Iberdrola. The company will also give an Iberdrola MVP (Most Valuable Player) award to the best player at the end of each League day and, at the end of the season, it will give an MVP award to the best player of the year.
Furthermore, in 2018 the company was the official sponsor of the European Championships in Huelva, and backed the first ever Iberdrola Women's Club Cup, which was held in Guadalajara. The company covers all the costs of this Copa Iberdrola of clubs, both the championship and the players and the participating staff.
Other competitions sponsored by Iberdrola throughout this year have been: Iberdrola Spanish Junior, Iberdrola Spanish International, Iberdrola Spanish Para-Badminton, Barcelona Spain Masters - HSBC World Tour and the absolute Spain Championships.
The Spanish Royal Badminton Federation fosters inclusive sport by including Paralympic badminton. Iberdrola is one of Paralympic badminton's leading sponsors. It supported the Spanish Paralympic Team at the Summer Paralympic Games in 2016 and will do so again in Tokyo 2020.
CAROLINA MARÍN, THREE-TIME WORLD BADMINTON CHAMPION
Spanish player Carolina Marín (Huelva, 1993) is one of our most internationally renowned athletes. Marín made history by becoming the first badminton player to win three world titles. Her most recent achievement was at the World Badminton Championships in 2018, held in Nanjing (China) where she won a gold medal to add to those she earned in 2014 and 2015.
In 2018 she also won gold at the European Championship for the fourth consecutive time and added two more golds to her collection at the Japan Open and the China Open. Carolina Marín has also been an ambassador for the Women's Universe programme since 2017 because of her commitment to badminton and women's sport.
IBERDROLA, BADMINTON FOR WOMEN AWARD
Spanish badminton for women has a quarry of brilliant players: as well as Carolina Marín, Toledo-born Sara Peñalver made the first entry on her international record by winning the Bulgarian International 2018 and is now one of the most promising talents on the international scene. Alicante's Marcela Quinteros also won a bronze medal at the European Para-Badminton Championships held in Rodez (France).
Also, the Spanish team composed of Carolina Marín, Beatriz Corrales, Sara Peñalver, Lorena Uslé and Elena Fernández managed to take bronze in the European Championships for Women's Teams, held in Kazan (Russia).
Iberdrola's presence has helped to give badminton a higher profile both within and beyond our borders. This success can be measured in figures: the Senior European Championships (Guadalajara, 2018) with record participation, and a total of 1,256 players; and the final of the European Championships in Huelva attracting a record audience to a badminton event, with 4,258 spectators.
In addition, Badminton Europe (BEC) — the leading continental badminton institution — awarded the Badminton for Women Award 2017 to Iberdrola's initiative 'Women, Health and Sport' because of its broad social component that supports and stimulates badminton as a physical activity. Specifically, more than 5,000 women of all ages learned about and played badminton thanks to the Women, Health and Sport Tour throughout 2017.