Spain’s Marin completes comeback with China Open triumph
Carolina Marin achieved one of the greatest comebacks in badminton, defending her China Open crown nearly eight months after suffering a career-threatening injury.
The 2016 Olympic champion, who suffered an ACL injury in the final of the Indonesia Masters in January, pulled off a stunning turnaround this week in Changzhou, defeating world No.4 Tai Tzu Ying 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 to win the women’s singles crown of the BWF World Tour Super 1000 event.
The Spanish ace said it was “unbelievable” that she had come back so strongly from her injury.
“I cannot describe my feelings right now because I’m so happy,” said Marin. “There was some frustration with myself in the first game. I tried to keep calm. I had to be patient and find the good length on the shuttle.
“But the most important thing is I could fight until the end. I just waited until she made mistakes. I just wanted to play some long rallies because I knew this match was going to be really tough.”
Kento Momota denied Anthony Sinisuka Ginting’s attempt to retain his men’s singles crown. The Japanese world No.1 rallied to score a 19-21, 21-17, 21-19 thrilling victory over the Indonesian in one hour and 31 minutes.
World champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong defeated Chinese compatriots Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping to retain the mixed doubles title, while Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan took the women’s doubles honour with a 21-14, 21-18 win over Japanese holders Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.
In the men’s doubles decider, world No.1 pair Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo defeated Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-18, 17-21, 21-15 in an all-Indonesian final.