Carolina Marín is already in the quarterfinals of the badminton Indonesian Open, in Jakarta, after defeating the Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan, twelfth in the world ranking, 21-19 and 21-13. There will be no Spanish clash in Jakarta, when Clara Azurmendi fell without an option against the Danish Line Christophersen (21-14 and 21-5), who will be Marín’s next rival.
The Olympic champion in Rio 2016, three-time world champion and six-time European champion, currently in the ninth place in the ranking, added her seventh victory over Ongbamrungphan, who has made a game of her only twice. But this time she was not an easy piece.
The 26-year-old Asian rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the first set to take an 8-7 lead. No player again acquired a margin greater than two points until Ongbamrungphan’s 16-13, although this time it was Marín who quickly wiped out the difference. With three points in a row, she took the lead 19-17 and already managed to maintain that cushion until the end of the game.
The 29-year-old Andalusian player found better options in the second set, although she did not manage to get away from her opponent definitively until after 11-8, when she completed another good run (14-8). From then on she was able to control the Thai’s response.
Clara Azurmendi was not at any time, except in the initial 2-1, ahead on the score of her match against Christophersen, who solved the crossover with authority. He had already won in a previous confrontation between the two. The Dane took a quick 6-2 lead in the first game, ending at 16-7, and in the second her superiority was even more evident and she only gave up five points against the woman from San Sebastian.
Carolina Marín, who has a favorable record of 3-0 over Christophersen, will fight for a place in the semifinals around 8:00 a.m. (Spanish time). The meeting can be followed live on the BWF YouTube channel.
