Andrea Ángel and Gerardo Saavedra, students of these faculties, were crowned undefeated in their respective branch at the 2022 University Games
Andrea Angel Salazar, student at the Faculty of Medicine; and Gerardo Saavedra Delgadillo, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, were crowned undefeated at the 2022 University Badminton Games, held at the Frontón Cerrado, in Ciudad Universitaria, where student athletes from different academic entities of the UNAM met last 2 of April.
The 22-year-old university student finished in first place in Group A, winning both of her corresponding matches. In the quarterfinals, she beat Mariana Conde, from the Faculty of Engineering, and later beat Daniela Torres, from Philosophy and Letters, in the semifinal, before beating Iran Sánchez, from ENES León, in the final.
“This victory represents all the effort and all the sacrifices that I have put into the sport. I am proud to represent the Faculty of Medicine, which has given me a lot of support in my career. My family, my training partners and my coach have also given me their support throughout this process”, said Angel Salazar.
With an 11-year career in badminton, the Covid confinement was a difficult time for her, as she could not train as usual. And when she returned to the face-to-face modality she suffered a knee injury, however, nothing prevented her from reaching the top of the podium in these University Games.
On the other hand, Gerardo Saavedra, 21 years old, also won first place without defeat after beating Iván Campos, from the Faculty of Medicine, in the quarterfinals; Rodrigo Ojeda, from Engineering, in the Semifinal; and lastly, Jorge Rodríguez, from Accounting and Administration.
“The truth was a great experience because the first year that I was going to represent UNAM, before the pandemic, I had obtained the same result (first place), and I wanted to repeat that feeling. Before the confinement, I was used to training daily, to going to tournaments more often, and now, collecting wins again in a competition is more difficult, but I feel a lot of satisfaction,” said Saavedra Delgadillo.
One of the great objectives of Gerardo Saavedra in the current year 2022 is the World Universiade, which will be held during the month of June. “It gives me great satisfaction to represent UNAM, to give back a grain of sand for everything it has given me, which is my education,” he said.