Marin wants to be the greatest of all Dubbed the Rafael Nadal of badminton in Spain for her tenacity and fierce left-handed game, Spaniard Carolina Marin ended Asia's hegemony at the Olympics, beating India's P.V. Sindhu in the Rio 2016 final. Photo: StraitsTimes File First woman to win three badminton world titles eyes further glory to cement her legacy MUMBAI ● For someone who took up badminton as a hobby, Carolina Marin has come a long way to be the reigning Olympic and world champion but she yearns for more as she aims to become the best ever in the sport. In August, the Spaniard became the first woman to win three world titles when she beat India's P.V. Sindhu in Nanjing to add to her gold medals from 2014 and 2015. China's Lin Dan has won two Olympic men's singles gold medals and five world championship crowns and is widely considered the greatest shuttler of all time. "Well I would like to be the best player in the history of badminton," Marin said. "It's very easy to say but I know it's going to be really difficult. I am ready to do anything to get that. "I would like to win one more Olympic Games and minimum two more World Championships." Dubbed the Rafael Nadal of badminton in Spain for her tenacity and fierce left-handed game, Marin ended Asia's hegemony at the Olympics when she beat Sindhu in the Rio 2016 final. Her win secured Europe a first title in 20 years and only its second since the sport's 1992 debut at the Games - something Marin could never have imagined when she started playing. "Badminton is not very popular in Spain. I just played it as a hobby. I didn't think too much about becoming a world champion," said the 25-year old, who represents Pune 7 Aces in the ongoing Premier Badminton League in India. "When I moved to the national centre as a 14-year-old, then I started to think about what I would like to be... and I just wanted to be the best in the world." "I had to put in so much effort to make my dream come true... I had to make so many sacrifices. It was really difficult." Since her Rio gold, Marin has been dogged by injuries, the latest being a niggling pain in her right leg which kept her out of this month's Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals. Marin also finds the BWF rule forcing the top 15 shuttlers to participate in at least 12 events a season too taxing and believes the governing body should do more to protect the players from injuries. "When they force the players to play so many tournaments in a year, we cannot do that. We are human, not robots, so sometimes we get injured because we are being forced to play so many tournaments," the world No.6 said. Coming from a country with no real pedigree in badminton, Marin believes she has been able to popularise the sport with many children picking up a racket after her Olympic success. She, however, is not too sure if Spain would see another of her kind. "It's not easy to produce another Carolina Marin," she added. "I have a special character that makes me feel special... to put in efforts to fight for my dream." Taken from: https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/marin-wants-to-be-the-greatest-of-all
Didn't she have her coach with her at the recent Malaysia Masters? See mid game intervals at 3:18 and 9:39:
Damn, is he a vampire?! So it was just a matter of camera perspective why he wasn't seen during the intervals then. Mystery solved!
It looked eeriely the same as when Li Xuerui went down on their last match at Rio. Even on the same foot (off-racket). This was the worst news all day. Hopefully, even if it's a long shot, that it's not as serious as it can be based on what we saw. I want to see her in 100% form in Tokyo next year! Sources say it is a foot injury; others say it's the knee - what is it?
The mechanism of injury didn't look severe enough for complete ACL tear, but likely some meniscal tear and perhaps slight ACL tear occurred. An MRI will sort it out. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
She was playing super fast these day's.. to much jumping at risky angles.. if we follow through Lin Wang, Xli, Gao etc.. they all got injured while a jump and land on wrong angle. Bottom line, WS players getting injured so much & frequent compared to MS.. they need to strengthen their lower body.. WS games is getting tough, & fast but WS players are not developing their bodies for it.... again check the recent injured WS players.. simple who is getting injured and not.. do learn from SN & PV.. their primary focus is to build lower part strongest ... rest will follow through.
Yeah, unfortunately looks like ACL rupture. Not sure complete or partial. If complete, it would be a miracle for her to play at her current level by Tokyo OG. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
ouch.this is right at the heel of Olympic qualifying year. not a good outlook for CM. wish her a speedy recovery.
Marin is one of strong contenders for Tokyo 2020 but this terrible injury will hamper her ambition to nail back to back Olympic gold medals. All the best and get well soon!
Carolina Marin will undergo surgery for a torn ACL today (29 Jan) with rehab scheduled to start the week after.