The crowd was rooting for him and Luís Enrique PeÑalver rode the wave against 11^th seed Rasmus Gemke, giving himself a shot at making the quarterfinals of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021 on home soil.

Everything was going his way until 20-16 in the first, but then it unravelled as his opponent kept things tight and closed out the match in 49 minutes, 22-20 21-12.

The Spaniard, whose family was in the stadium to watch him in action, could only rue the missed opportunities at 20-16.

“Especially with the first game I think I played a really good match in the beginning but I couldn’t end it when I was leading 20-16, but I felt really good and then in the second game he played faster and I wasn’t comfortable.

“It was an amazing feeling to see all the spectators and my family was here so I was really happy to be here and to feel like I have all the support of the crowd and everything,” said the Spaniard.

“When they said the World Championships were in Huelva I was waiting for it. I think I played a good match for the Spanish fans. I hope they enjoyed seeing me play here. Matches like this make me feel more comfortable with my game.”

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