Carolina Marin, the Spanish Head Turner on Badminton Map

 Deceptive shots, aggressive screams and yell of jubilation is Carolina Marin, the Spaniard southpaw girl. She brought the aura of badminton in the country after her breath-taking win at the 2014 World Championships and known as the best to the world when she defeated the Indian star PV Sindhu at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Early Career

Born in 1993 on June 15th, Marin started playing badminton at the age of eight. She liked it and sticked to it despite being the first in the family where none was familiar with the game. She joined IES La Orden badminton club in her early career and caught the limelight by coach Fernando Rivas at 13.

Agility and strength of Marin was the head turner for Rivas during an U15 match and marked her skills as ‘extraordinary’.

“I’m fancied to be the best. European champion. World champion. Olympic champion and the World No.1,” Carolina recalls her first conversation with Rivas when the latter asked what’s her goal, as quoted in olympic.org.

And that’s how she started her career in the country where there was no real pedigree of sport. She dreamt, worked hard, and stood as the brand ambassador under the aegis of her coach Rivas.

For Rivas, it was a challenge too as there was no proper club or support in the country. “They have to work much harder, to fight against the lack of tradition, there is no club system to help players grow and there is a lack of competition to challenge the best players,” he said.

After moving to Madrid in 2007 to train full-time under Rivas, she achieved her first U17 title at the European Juniors Championship to add the first title to the country’s pocket. She continued her winning spree and won various junior level titles representing Spain; the biggest tournament where she reached the Quarter Finals was at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, the tournament where she first breath the Olympic air.

Caught the limelight by winning the Worlds in 2014

At the age of just 21, Marin won the 2014 BWF World Championships in Copenhagen trouncing the Chinese Li Xuerui, the player from the then dominating country in the sport, to mark Spain on the badminton map. She defended her title in 2015 and went on clinching several Super Series titles. Previously, she became the first player from the country to win the Grand Prix titles in 2011.

The Spanish star grabbed, yet, another biggest title in 2016 when she defeated the Indian star PV Sindhu in the summit clash that lasted for 83 minutes. Hailing from Huelva, Spain, Marin became super champion and was welcomed by the frenzy home crowd, right after the Rio win.

Her Olympic success has also played a big part in raising the profile of badminton in Spain

“It’s great that a girl from Huelva, a far corner of Spain, can suddenly become the best in the world,” said the Olympic champion.

Rivas feels great as Spain was no more the strange team. He said, “Now when we go to Asia, they respect us, they greet us.”

Between 2014 to 2017, Marin claimed as many as 6 Super Series titles, that include the All England Open in 2015 against the Indian Saina Nehwal. She played and won against almost all the toughest female shuttlers. Marin maintained the consistency in winning the 4 European Championships title in 5 years from 2014.

Marin, who never reveals her secret regimen and strategy during the match - Marin’s secret according to her - reached the career best ranking of 3rd in February 2018, and currently holds the position of 6^thin the latest BWF World Rankings. Marin’s next biggest goal is to reach the numero uno spot.

Lesser Known Facts You Should Know

Alternate childhood skill          : Flamenco (a popular dance form)

Sporting Icon                            : Rafael Nadal

Favourite Football team            : Barcelona

Favourite Football player          : Leonel Messi

Hobby                                        : Cooking, Watching Movies, Shopping

Toughtest Rival                          : PV Sindhu