Sports
Will Léonice Huet (Black badminton player) qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics
BY KRISHNA MISTRY
Twenty-three-year-old, Léonice Huet, is one of the few Black representations in badminton. Huet, a French badminton player, started her career at BadBonneval Club, and soon in 2014, she joined the CLT Orleans, another badminton club.
She then debuted in the BWF, Badminton World Federation, competing in the VII Portuguese Junior 2015, where she played women’s singles and mixed doubles. She moved on to play in many junior international series in: Poland, Hungary, France, Latia, Romania, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Germany and many more countries worldwide.
Huet has had the opportunity to play in many series, allowing her to grow as an athlete and gain more opportunities in badminton. Huet has played a total of three-hundred and sixteen matches in her career, two-hundred and thirty-eight matches in singles with one-hundred and thirty-nine wins and ninety-nine losses, fifty games in doubles with thirty wins and twenty losses, and twenty-eight in mixed events with nineteen wins and nine losses.
She has won a total of ten titles in her career, from 2015 to 2024, four being gold medals and six being silver. This year alone, Huet has competed in many series. She started her 2024 by competing at the VICTOR Swedish Open, from January 18th to February 21st.
Huet played extremely well, allowing her to proceed to the quarterfinals, where she played Ágnes Kőrösi, a Hungarian player, which she won both sets, progressing her to the semi-finals. She played an Azerbaijan player named Keisha Fatimah Az Zahra, whom she easily beat. It was now time for the finals, where she played an Indian player named Devika Sihag.
It was a tough match, Huet was able to win the first set, twenty-one to eighteen. The second set rolled around, and it did not look too well for Huet, who lost fourteen to twenty-one. It was time for the third set, the tiebreaker.
Would Huet win the finals, starting her year with a great start and receiving gold or would she lose and receive a silver medal?
Unfortunately, Huet lost the third set by two points and received a silver medal. She has competed at the: Azerbaijan International, YONEX German Open, Orleans Masters Badminton by VICTOR 2024, and the Orlen Polish. The latest championship she competed in was the 2024 European Championship in Germany.
She won all the rounds in this tournament, except for the quarterfinals. Huet was against Carolina Marin, a Spanish player, who ranks fifth in the BWF. This was a great learning opportunity for Huet as this will help her move up the ladder.
Huet is currently ranked seventieth, which is impressive as there are four hundred and ninety-nine players in the BWF. She has big dreams. To improve, to be better and to have the opportunity to compete in the Olympic 2024, which will be held on her turf.
Huet takes inspiration from Serena Williams, twenty-three-time grand slam winner, as she bids to qualify for the home Olympics in Paris 2024.
She has told the BWF, “It is very important for Black people to know that they are capable of achieving great success in life. It is essential to convey this kind of powerful message to inspire them.”
Will Huet be competing at the Summer Olympics Paris 2024? Unfortunately, the list of competing athletes has not been released. The Olympics takes one-hundred and seventy-two badminton athletes to compete: eighty-six women and eighty-six men. The qualifications started on May 1st, 2023, and ends April 28th, 2024.
The final eligibility list will be published two days after the deadline, April 30th.