The Spanish Carolina Marín was proclaimed runner-up in the badminton world this Sunday in Copenhagen after falling in the final against the South Korean An Se Young, world number one, 21-12 21-10 in just 42 minutes. Marín, 30, returns to the world podium five years after her third title, won in 2018 and which followed those of 2014 and 2015.
The Spanish, six-time European champion and Olympic gold medalist in 2016, the only woman in badminton history with three world titles, was unable to respond to her rival’s exchanges in this final, who chose to shorten the points and show unrelenting aggressiveness. rest. An, bronze in the previous World Cup and only 21 years old, thus goes from the third step to the first in just one year, in the season prior to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The previous history of confrontations, with five victories out of nine for the Asian but winner of the last four clashes, already anticipated the difficulty of the company for Marín. But the very high level displayed in the semifinals, by defeating the Japanese Akane Yamaguchi with authority, second favorite and winner of the two previous editions, promised a more even final. The best on the planet awaited her in it, according to the current ranking.
The Spanish, who hadn’t missed a game in the entire championship, lost the first of the final with surprising ease. An moved it from side to side in the first points and Marín was forced to those initial returns. The South Korean acquired 1-4 leads, which her rival wiped out, and 4-10, very aggressive with her right. The Spaniard’s shots had trouble finding the lines. Not a breath did An give to the Spanish, with points decided in brief exchanges before which Marín was unable to deploy her strategy. The South Korean’s advantage stretched to nine points (9-18). An error in Marín’s net put eight set points at An’s disposal. A long shot from the Spanish gave her rival the sleeve at the first exchange.
Comeback… And fall
“You can’t want to win in six shots. As many hits as it takes,” Marin’s coach, Fernando Rivas, advised. But in front of it this Sunday was a cyclone and Marín had to sweat ink to go from an 8-3 disadvantage to a 10-10 tie that returned her to the game. It was a mirage. Eleven points in a row from An, who deployed a variety of shots without loopholes, relentless with his crosses, put the title in his hands. Marín returns to the world podium after overcoming two very serious knee injuries, in 2019, when she was the current Olympic, world and European champion and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in the final of the Indonesian Masters, and in 2021, when she he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and two left menisci in training, two months before the Tokyo Games.
2023-08-28 05:13:10
#number
