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Spanish Olympic badminton champ Carolina Marin keen to put injury-hit 2017 behind
Carolina Marin, the former world No 1, claimed the women’s singles title at Rio Olympics, only for injuries to hurt her campaign this year. She will play Hyderabad Hunters in the Premier Badminton League (PBL)
It was a topsy-turvy 2017 for Spanish badminton ace Carolina Marin, who had won the biggest prize there was the previous year – the Rio Olympics gold.
The former world No 1 reached three consecutive Superseries finals in March-April, but was unable to win any of them. Carolina Marin finally ended that frustration at the Japan Open Superseries in September, defeating home favourite Nozumi Okuhara to win her only major title of the season.
However, hopes of finishing the year on a high were dashed as the Spaniard suffered a hip injury at the Hong Kong Open in November that sidelined her for the remainder of the season.
Still, Carolina Marin was happy with her performances considering the amount of time she lost due to injuries.
“It was a good year. I had to recover from injury after Olympics. It was a tough moment for me and I couldn’t practice and had to play tournaments. But now, this year is done and I am looking forward to more titles next year,” Marin said at the Premier Badminton League (PBL) press conference.
“I want to win the World Championships and the All England Open next season. I know it will not be easy, but I am working hard and that will be my main target next season,” she added with a smile.
Marin, who has been a part of PBL since its inception in 2013, was retained by Hyderabad Hunters, who will start their campaign against North East Warriors in Guwahati on December 24.
As it will be her first match since recovering from the hip injury, she is cautious but confident about her return. “I have been working really hard to make up for lost time. It is tough for any player to come back from a big break and the PBL will be a good platform for me to test my fitness,” Marin said.
