Olympic champion Marin to play in Modi badminton
LUCKNOW : For yet another time, reigning Olympic champion, Carolina Marin would be seen in action during the Syed Modi International Badminton Championship, scheduled to be held from November 26 to December 1, at the UP Badminton Academy here.
Spanish shuttler Marin, who has been three-time world champion, four-time European champion and the former World’s No. 1 in BWF rankings, made a successful comeback only this month by defending her China Open title eight months after suffering a career-threatening injury.
The Spaniard tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right leg during the final of the Indonesia Masters in January and had to undergo surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation before returning to court. The tournament in Changzhou was only the second for the triple world champion after she lost in the first round of the Vietnam Open last week.
Marin faced Tai Tzu Ying in the final, having lost her last six meetings against the Taiwanese world number four. She took time to get going but rallied to beat the former world number one 14-21, 21-17, 21-18. Marin slumped on the court and broke into tears as Tai sent a forehand crosscourt shot wide on match point.
“I cannot describe my feelings right now because I’m so happy,” Marin was quoted as saying by the Badminton World Federation on its website.
In 2015, in her maiden appearance, Marin was beaten by the London Olympics bronze medallist and India’s own Saina Nehwal 21-19, 23-25, 16-21 in a see-saw battle, lasting an hour and 19 minutes. Marin’s presence in the 10th edition of the event here would let the fans see a possible tussle between her and newly crowned World Champion PV Sindhu, who after wresting the singles title in 2017, had skipped the event in 2018 as she wanted to focus on BWF events then.
“Certainly, Marin’s participation in the event would add glamour to the tournament,” UP Badminton Association’s secretary, Arun Kakkar said on Monday while confirming about the online entry of Marin, who held the World No 1 title for a record number of 66 weeks.
The ESP Federacion Esppanola de Badminton (Spain) would also be sending a special team of film makers to shoot a documentary of Marin. The documentary is based on Marin’s comeback story in the game after nursing her injuries.
Other than Marin, China’s Jiao Bing HE, who had lost to Marin in the quarterfinals at the China Open and World No 20 Rui Xue Li also from China have confirmed their participation in the women’s singles. In the men’s section, two-time Olympic champions Lin Dan has confirmed his participation in the event along with 37 other Chinese shuttlers.
“So far 15 players from Indonesia, and 11 from Thailand have sent their entries to the UPBA,” said Kakkar.