Venezuela won two bronze badminton medals at the South American Games

Published at: 25/09/2026 03:24 PM

Venezuela won two bronze badminton medals at the XIII South American Games Santa Fe 2026, both with the common protagonist Jhonatan Wo Zheng, who teamed up with Ricardo Torres in men's doubles and Mariangel García in mixed doubles.

In the men's doubles category, Zheng and Torres began their journey beating Paraguayans Marcos Rotela and Mauricio Martínez in the round of 16, with sets of 21-12 and 21-14.

Already among the top eight, they beat Bolivians Gabriel Rosales and Fabrizio Prudencio by two sets of 21-7 and 21-5.

Later they yielded in the semifinal to the Brazilians Donnians Abreu and Jonathan Santos, in two sets, 21-9 and 21-12, a result that officially awarded the Criollos the bronze medal.

In mixed doubles, Zheng shared the court with Mariangel García, defeating Bolivians Verónica Condori and Fabrizio Prudencio in the round of 16, by double 21-7.

The battle to secure the podium came when the Venezuelan couple faced Colombians Miguel Quirama and Juliana Giraldo in the quarterfinals, where they won 21-19 and 21-15, sealing their qualification to the semifinals.

In the semifinal round Garcia and Zheng fell to Brazilians Davi Carvalho and Sania Passos 21-9 and 21-12, thus closing their participation with the bronze medal.

With these two medals, Zheng became the protagonist by climbing twice to the podium in the same edition of the South American Games.

“Although people see me as a Chinese, I feel very happy to represent Venezuela, and to give it this joy by adding one more medal to that medal holder that is making history,” he said.

Mazo News Team