MADRID, 27 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish delegation present at the Mediterranean Games that are taking place in the Algerian town of Oran added a new medal with the silver in badminton for the couple formed by Pablo Abián and Luis Enrique Peñalver, while also securing one more metal with the final achieved in fight by Levan Metrevelli.
Spain added its third medal in the event after the bronzes of the karate fighter Alba Pinilla and the artistic gymnastics team, made up of Alba Petisco, Maia Llacer, Claudia Villalba, Emma Fernández, Laura Casabuena and Lorena Medina, thanks to the veteran Abián and Peñalver in the doubles modality of the badminton competition.
The Aragonese and the Toledo got into the fight for gold after winning in a disputed semifinal match the Italians Fabio Caponio and Giovanni Toti (17-21, 21-15 and 21-19) and then they touched the gold medal, but they could not finally overcome the Algerian couple formed by Koceila Mammeri and Youcef Sabri Medel, but these, encouraged by the public, came back to win 14-21, 21-19 and 21-16.
This silver is the third medal in the Mediterranean Games for Pablo Abián, who won individual gold four years ago in Tarragona, and another individual silver in the Turkish town of Mersin in 2013, while Kike Peñalver opens his record.
In addition, the Spanish team secured yet another medal on this second day of competition, although it remains to be seen what the color will be, thanks to Levan Metreveli’s performance in freestyle wrestling, who will fight for gold this Tuesday in the 57 kilo category. On the other hand, in Greco-Roman, Marcos Sánchez could not overcome the repechage and did not agree to the fight for the podium.
Spain also had options to increase its medal table in Oran in table tennis, but fell in the fight for bronze against Greece (3-1). In the quarterfinals they beat Italy (3-2), but in the semifinals they could not clearly beat Slovenia (0-3).
In petanque there was also good news with Jesús Escacho qualifying for the semi-finals in the shooting modality, joining Sara Díaz and the pair with Melani Homar in this penultimate step towards the medals.