Carolina Marín was very respectful. She shook hands and gave a hug to the Japanese Akane Yamaguchi, who could not continue playing in the All England badminton final due to physical problems, when she lost 26-24 and 11-1. The Asian woman asked for medical assistance, they put a spray on her hip, but it was impossible for her to continue. Carolina held back at that moment when she saw her opponent like that, but then she let out everything she had inside her: first, she fell to the ground and started crying. Then she stood up and let out a liberating cry.
It is not another triumph for the Spanish athlete. It is to win the most important tournament, the most prestigious beyond World Cups and Games, in which the best in the world participate, when there are four months left until the Paris Olympics, her great objective. “I’m on the right path,” Carolina later acknowledged, who is once again among the best, after having left behind the problems of injuries, operations on her knees, in both of them, the second one being especially tough when the Tokyo Games They were next to him and he was in a spectacular moment. “I entered a very dark hole,” Marín admitted in an interview with this newspaper. But she got out of there with the help of her people, her team, and with her strength and the motivation to be in Paris 2024 and achieve her second gold there, after Rio 2016.
In the stands, her mother, Toñi, wrapped in a Spanish flag, was also crying and ran from the top to near the track to hug Carito, who is what she calls her daughter.
The first set between Carolina and Yamaguchi was a monument to badminton. 12-10 as the maximum advantage for the Spanish, everything was very tight until in the end the Japanese did take advantage. At 17-20 she was already touching that first set, she caressed it, but Carolina Marín did not give up and took it out of her hands. She recovered those three final balls and two more later, with 20-21 and 22-23. Cold blood from the Huelva native to let through some dubious midfielder that went wide, incredible defenses dropping to the ground and getting up, and the voracious attack at the end when with a shot to end the suspense.
You can say that the game ended there. The physical problems that the Asian had became a mountain after losing a set in that way. She no longer went to her because of the ruffles, she barely moved anymore, her body and her head were fused together, until she saw that it wasn’t worth continuing. Carolina has defeated the fourth in the world, Yamaguchi, on its way to the title; at three, Tai Tzu Ying; and at two, Chen Yu Fei. And without giving up a set.
Since he returned from his second injury in 2022, he had already competed in the World Cup final and fought for big titles, he needed to take the next step and win one so that the Olympic dream is more alive than ever. The Spaniard, one of the best badminton players in history, had only been able to lift the All England once, nine years ago.
2024-03-17 14:56:42
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