CheLagoense badminton star Telma Santos made light of her prolonged absence from international competition in winning the Badminton Europe Israel Open in Hatzor.
The 30-year-old London Olympian, who plays for the Algarve club during the domestic season, belied her now lowly No355 world ranking by defeating current No71 Maja Tvrdy from Slovenia in the semis before triumphing 21-16, 21-19 over Russian top seed Olga Golovanova in the final.
Both Santos and fellow CheLagoense Portuguese men’s No1 Pedro Martins should return to regular top international action this winter after receiving financial assistance from the Portuguese Badminton Federation, hopefully leading to qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
