Hat-trick for Ronan Hô-Yagues in local Dumbéa tournament

The perfect course for Ronan is all the more remarkable as the New Caledonian badminton player claims to have tackled it in very bad conditions. “Mentally, I was really not at my best. But I managed to get out of it. I didn’t play very well throughout the weekend, but in the end, it was enough” , he confides.

Claiming that the matchers were “closer than usual”, particularly the very first of the group stage of the single tournament, against Carl N’Guela. “It’s the only one I played in three sets. It was really difficult, but then I corrected it,” he said. Winner of all the other matches in two sets, he finally got rid of Yohan de Geoffroy (21-11, 22-20) to claim gold.

The task was not easy either in doubles, associated with a Jérémy Lemaître who also admits having started the tournament in difficult mental conditions. “I lost a close Friday, so I didn’t necessarily have the lead in badminton. Fortunately, Ronan was there, and even with our worries, we were really above the others.” For his partner, the two players “helped each other” to overcome the situation. Thus, in the final, the duo defeated the pair Yohan de Geoffroy and Julian Thiollet (21-11, 21-11).

A pair without landmarks

His third successive title came in mixed doubles, shared with Dgéniva Matauli. “We have been partners for a long time, but as she had stopped badminton in July, it was the first time that we had played together for a while , traced the licensee of the Magenta club. It was a little difficult, we had lost the automatisms, but in the end it went well. ” In the last match, the winning pair dominated Yohan de Geoffroy – defeated for the third time in as many finals – and Marine Naveros.

After this successful tournament, Ronan Hô-Yagues begins a period of two months without competition. While several other members of the team are preparing for the upcoming Northern Marianas 2022 Pacific Mini Games, Ronan won’t be competing in this year’s addition following his personal choice not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a measure enforced by the organizing committee in order to compete. He will return to the local circuit during the Caledonian badminton championships in July. “It’s not necessarily bad to take a two-month break. It allows you to train well, and to arrive prepared and in good shape for the tournament.”

The women’s final of the singles tournament was won by Dgéniva Matauli against the experienced Johanne Kou, who won the doubles tournament, in tandem with Marine Souviat.