Kevin Cordón poses for a photo during a break from a practice session at Ada gym on Monday.
KEVIN Cordón, the no. 1 seed in the two 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifying tournaments that Saipan is hosting, is ready to take on the competition.
When asked if he feels pressure as the top seed, the 36-year-old four-time Olympian of Guatemala answered, “No. Actually, when you’re serious sometimes you are lucky and sometimes you are not — even if you’re not seeded.”
The last time he played was three weeks ago in Mexico, adding that this is the second time he’s playing in the Oceania region. His first was in New Zealand in 2009.
The Olympic qualifiers are held everywhere around the world, and Cordón’s team had the choice of playing in Europe or Saipan.
“We decided to play here,” he added.
He believes that the competition will be very tough. “Of course, it’s strong. It doesn’t matter which tournament is held in which country — every tournament will be hard. We knew this was going to be a tough tournament.”
Asked about the tournament venue, which is the Ada gym, he said: “To be honest, the venue is really nice. Sometimes the problem with the venue is that the lights are too high or too low, but this one is good. We also thought it was going to be really hot but it’s not. We hope that it stays this way.”
Cordón’s main focus in the two tournaments is to have fun. “I just try to play like I’m having fun. I know I must play well. I know that I must win to get points for my world ranking. I know these things. But I don’t want to put pressure on me so I’ll try to have fun with every point and every match,” he said.
All eyes will be on the no. 1 seed when the tournament begins today, Tuesday, at the Ada gym.
