Badminton Brazil Confederation (CBBd) is led by Mr. Jose Roberto Santini since 2021 and during 2022, Brazilian badminton continued to stand out at the Pan Am level and even worldwide, with the participation of athletes in the BWF World Tour and medals at the Para Badminton World Championships 2022. Here are some impressions of the CBBd president, Roberto Santini, about the work that his federation carried out during 2022.
“2022 was a very important year, with very significant achievements such as participating in World Tour tournaments. Never before had Brazil participated in tournaments of this level in Mixed Doubles and Women’s Doubles. This participation has a direct impact on the World Ranking, so our mixed and female duos, like our singles players, are well ranked and with the possibility of qualifying to the Olympic Games.”
Samia Lima, Jaqueline Lima, Fabricio Farias and Francielton Farias are the athletes who have ventured into the World Tour but also Ygor Coelho stands out, living in Europe and playing those kind of events. Coelho is the main card of Brazil in singles, but Brazil has also added other athletes who have pleasantly surprised during 2022.
“In singles we have our most outstanding athlete, Ygor Coelho who plays in Europe. He had some clinical problems that have already been resolved and he should arrive in Santiago 2023 very well. We also have a young athletes like Jonathan Matias, who has won 4 championships in a row in the last few months and I think there will be an interesting competition between Jonathan and Ygor for Paris 2024. There is also Juliana Vieira, who is 18 years old. We have bet on her and she has responded in a sensational way, she has added well in the ranking and is in the classification zone after only one year in the adult category.”
The development of Brazilian badminton also involves Para badminton, which has shown great results in 2022, both in the World Championship and in the Pan Am Championship held last November where Brazil obtained 38 medals, being the most winning country in that championship.
“In Para badminton we also have great achievements. Although there are fewer competitions, Vitor became second in the world this year. He got two medals in the World Championship. He is a great athlete who is also going to fight for a medal in Paris 2024. We also have other athletes like Marcelo, Julio, Maria Gilda, Adriane, among others who are also looking for big goals like the Paralympic Games.”
Brazil is obtaining great results due to the work carried out by the leaders. Hard training, constant preparation, concentration on objectives and good planning have paid off.
“Our national team trains individually with coaches (Marco and Fabiana) who spend between 10 and 12 hours in the gym and with athletes who train at least 6 hours per day in addition to competitions. We have a favorable budget from the Brazilian Olympic Committee, which knows the work that is being done and sees the results. Similar is the case with Para badminton, we have the support of the Paralympic committee to continue promoting the modality to have more visibility. That allows us to be able to participate in more competitions and keep improving. But it also gives us more responsibility in management as a directive to manage the resource in the best way and take advantage of opportunities.”
Results also demand greater responsibility for management and Mr. Roberto is already planning what will be in 2023, evaluating what has been achieved in 2022 and promoting new initiatives for the development of Brazilian and Pan-American badminton.
“I think the job is being done well both in badminton and in Para badminton. 2022 has been a very good year and we have great expectations for 2023 that everything will be better. The Sports Managers cannot be satisfied but always seek how to improve. So we are planning that and other things that for now are our own strategies that if we manage to achieve them we will share them with others. We are going to work in 2023 to improve the training of base coaches. That is one of our goals for this year.”
The future of Brazilian badminton, on the courts, is assured with a young team that is gradually raising its level of play and has already achieved great results such as the 6 gold medals of the recent 2023 South American Games.
“We currently have a very young adult team, with Juliana who is 18 years old, Jonathan who is 22 years old, and we also have Davi and Deivid Silva and Sania. All of them are athletes that we are sure can compete in two more Olympic cycles. Young people, with a different culture who already understand what it is to be a high performance athlete.”
Something that Mr. Santini considers essential for the sporting development of the players that currently make up the national team is the fact that they have been able to train and compete with their idols and have had them close to be able to be inspired and learn from them. This is something that has been planted in Brazilian badminton for years and has allowed young people to see that, just like their idols, they too can fulfill their dreams.
“I have always thought that it is necessary for athletes to have their idol or reference within their reach, not just on television. And badminton in Brazil is that. So, for example, in our national tournaments, when there are no international competitions, it also has the presence of our teams who participate and take photos with the youth athletes. That means that this young group sees their idols, knows them, and thinks that they too can achieve great things like their idols. This has an impact on the entire process, on the children, the clubs, the coaches, and thus begins the process of competitiveness. This is happening in Brazilian badminton. Also all the achievements that Brazilian badminton achieved before have allowed us to continue with a plan. All the Brazilian Pan Am medalists are a reference for the current group and their efforts have borne fruit so far, with this group of boys who are standing out.”
As president of the Brazilian Badminton Federation, Mr. Roberto Santini wants to continue developing badminton and implementing new initiatives that allow for better and greater development. He has dreams and hopes to make them come true during his tenure.
“I have dreams and I hope to see them come true. I would like and I am working so that the CBBd does not need to have a permanent national team, but that we have an excellent job in the formative clubs, in competitive clubs, with coaches in them and that the CBBd supervises all this with a head coach who summons the best one month before significant competitions. In this way, there would be 10, 15 or more poles of badminton development in the country. The current idea of a permanent national team is to make up for the absence of all that, of a club that has training 12 hours a day, with available courts, specialized coaches, etc. That is my dream, when we achieve it I think the development of badminton will be complete.”
