Porte de la Chapelle arena tested for Paris ‘24

South Korea’s An Se-young won her 21st title on the BWF World Tour. She did it on the stage that will host the Olympic Games. “Winning in the Olympic arena means a lot and I feel very happy,” she said. For the organisers of Paris 2024, the event was a trial run.

An Se-young, 22, defeated Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 18-21, 21-13, 2110 at the French Open badminton tournamen on Sunday. It served as a trial run for Paris 2024 organisers to check the state of the Porte de la Chapelle arena, which will host Olympic events.

Speaking at the same venue four months after winning her first Olympic gold medal, the favourite said: “This is an important event before the Olympics and at the beginning I felt a lot of pressure.

“To win in the Olympic arena means a lot and I feel very happy. I think that when I come back here for the Olympics, I will be in a positive frame of mind,” she said as quoted by the AFP news agency.

The tournament at the Porte de la Chapelle arena was treated as a test event by the Paris Olympic organisers. It comes just four months before the Olympic Games. The impressive venue is one of the few venues built specifically for the Olympic Games. It was inaugurated on February 11.

Officials saw the French Open as the perfect test to see how the building work was progressing. It is a facility with a capacity of around 7,000 spectators and will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics. The building has cost almost 140 million (FJD $341,104,381.80).

It is being built in an area where it is hoped that its legacy will help to promote sport among young people, thereby reducing the high level of marginalisation in the area.

The inauguration of the centre was a match between the local team, Paris Basketball, and the elite of the basketball world.