Carolina Marín


Carolina María Marín Martín is a Spanish professional badminton player. She is the reigning Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, four-time European Champion, and the former World's No. 1 in BWF rankings for the women's singles discipline, holding the World No. 1 title for a record number of 66 weeks.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest female athletes in the badminton circuit, she holds the distinction of having won a medal in almost every BWF tournament, along with the consecutive golds at the Olympics, the World Championships and the European Championships. She has become the World Champions in the women's singles three times, winning in 2014, 2015 and 2018, thereby becoming the first ever female badminton athlete to have achieved this feat. She has also consecutively won the European Championships title for 4 times in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. She won the Olympics gold medal in women's singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Marín was appointed as the brand ambassador of football major LaLiga and Meliá Hotels International for its promotion in other countries.

Career

Carolina Marín in her earlier childhood was a keen Flamenco dancer. It was when she came to know about badminton upon seeing her friend playing the sport, who introduced her to the game, that she developed interest and began to fall in love with this sport, and ever since then, decided to stop dancing and play badminton wholeheartedly. At the age of eight, she started playing badminton at the IES La Orden in Huelva. She says she had to leave her hometown and her family at a very young age to travel all the way to Madrid for training at National Centre.

2009–2011: First international title and European Junior Champions

In 2009, she became the first Spanish badminton player to win a silver medal first, at the European Junior Championships, and also at the same year, won the gold medal at the European U-17 Junior Championships. She won her first major title at the Irish International tournament coming throughugh the qualification stage and beating the Dutch player Rachel Van Cutsen in the final with the rubber game.
In 2011, she alongside her teammate, Beatriz Corrales, made history for the Spanish badminton, after making all-Spanish final at the continental European Junior Championships held in Vantaa, Finland, and Marín grabbed the gold medal. She also competed at the World Junior Championships in Taipei, reaching the semi-finals, but lost to Elisabeth Purwaningtyas of Indonesia and settled for the bronze medal.

2013–2014: First Grand Prix title, European and World Champions

In 2013, she became the first Spanish badminton player to win a Grand Prix Gold title after winning the London Grand Prix Gold. In August, Marín played for the Bangalore-based team Banga Beats in the inaugural edition of the Indian Badminton League.
On 31 August 2014, she defeated Li Xuerui of China in the World Championships women's singles final and became the first Spaniard to win a World Championship title and the third European female player to achieve the gold medal, after Lene Køppen and Camilla Martin. At the age of 21, she became the youngest European that won the World Championships ever.

2015: Five Superseries title, second World Championships and World #1

In 2015, she won the All England Open, her first Superseries Premier title in her first Superseries Premier final after defeating Saina Nehwal in the final with score 16–21, 21–14, 21–7. The title propelled her to rank number 4 in the world ranking and, for the first time, no. 1 in the Superseries standing. At India Open, she had the chance to unseat Li Xuerui as the new world no. 1, however, she narrowly lost to Thai prodigy Ratchanok Intanon in a close three games at the semi-finals stage. She rose to a career high as world no. 2 in the world ranking on 2 April.
On 5 April, Marín won her second straight Superseries Premier title, beating Olympic champion Li Xuerui for the second consecutive time at the 2015 Malaysia Open with score of 19–21, 21–19, 21–17. In August, she defended her title at the World Championship by beating Saina Nehwal of India in 21–16, 21–19. 2015 was the golden year for Marín, where in addition to defending the World Championships title, she also won other Superseries titles such as the Australian Open, French Open, and Hong Kong Open.

2016: Olympics gold

In August, she represented her country at the Rio Olympics. She arrived at Rio as the number one seed and won a gold medal by beating India's P. V. Sindhu in the women's singles final with a score of 19–21, 21–12, 21–15. She made history by becoming the first non-Asian to win the Olympic badminton women's singles gold medal. An indoor arena in Huelva is named after her honour, with Marín herself attending the inauguration.

2017–2018: Fourth European and Third World Championships title

In 2017, Marín won the Japan Open Superseries title after beating He Bingjiao of China in the final, winning a Superseries title after almost two years. At the Hong Kong Open, which took place late November, Marín retired to Michelle Li, losing 21–19, 13–21, 8–11, due to a hip injury that she sustained during the match. Marín later announced on Twitter and Instagram that, due to her hip injury, she would not be participating in the season ending Dubai World Superseries Finals.
On 29 April 2018, she won her fourth consecutive European Championships title in her home soil Huelva, Spain, by beating Evgeniya Kosetskaya with score of 21–15, 21–7 in the final. On 5 August, she won the title in the World Championships by defeating P. V. Sindhu of India in straight games 21–19, 21–10, making her the first female player in history to win three World Championships title.

2019–2020: ACL Injury and Marin's sensational comeback

Marín began her 2019 season with a runner-up effort at the Malaysia Masters, where she lost to Ratchanok Intanon in straight games. On 27 January, Marín suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury during the Indonesia Masters final against Saina Nehwal, when she was 10–3 ahead in the first games. Marín subsequently retired from the match and underwent the ACL reconstruction surgery as soon as she was flown back to Madrid the same day. She had a recovery for four months, dedicate 10 hours a day to rehabilitation between the physical and technical, with morning and afternoon physiotherapy sessions, and swimming pool work.
In September, after eight-month break forced by the injury, Marín returned to competition at the 2019 Vietnam Open, but suffered an opening round defeat to Supanida Katethong. However, she was able to bounce back and, on 22 September, she won the China Open, defeating Tai Tzu-ying in the finals with a score of 14–21, 21–17, 21–18. This was Marín's first title of the season, which she followed with the semi-finals at the Denmark Open, where she was defeated in three tight games by Nozomi Okuhara. She reached the final of French Open next week, where she was defeated by Korean youngster An Se-young in three games 21–16, 18–21, 5–21. Her achievements in the last three tournaments succeeded in bringing her back into the world top 10 of BWF women's singles ranking. She further won Syed Modi and Italian International tournaments later in the year.
Marín started the 2020 season at the Southeast Asian tour in a positive note; reaching the semi-finals of Malaysia Masters where she lost to Chen Yufei. She then reached the final of Indonesia Masters in successive week, where she narrowly missed the title after getting defeated from Ratchanok Intanon in three games 19–21, 21–11, 18–21. She continued her good form and thereafter reached the semi-finals of Thailand Masters, which she lost to top seed Akane Yamaguchi in a close rubber games. In February, she reached the final of her home event Barcelona Spain Masters, where she lost in an upset to rising Thai star Pornpawee Chochuwong in the rubber games 21–11, 16–21, 18–21. In March, she competed as eight seed in the All England Open, but stopped by the eventual champion Tai Tzu-ying in the semi-finals.

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2016Riocentro – Pavilion 4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil P. V. Sindhu19–21, 21–12, 21–15 Gold

World Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2018Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China P. V. Sindhu21–19, 21–10 Gold
2015Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Saina Nehwal21–16, 21–19 Gold
2014Ballerup Super Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark Li Xuerui17–21, 21–17, 21–18 Gold

European Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2018Palacio de Deportes de Huelva, Huelva, Spain Evgeniya Kosetskaya21–15, 21–7 Gold
2017Sydbank Arena, Kolding, Denmark Kirsty Gilmour21–14, 21–12 Gold
2016Vendespace, La Roche-sur-Yon, France Kirsty Gilmour21–12, 21–18 Gold
2014Gymnastics Center, Kazan, Russia Anna Thea Madsen21–9, 14–21, 21–8 Gold

BWF World Junior Championships

Girls' singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2011Taoyuan Arena, Taipei, Taiwan Elyzabeth Purwaningtyas21–23, 21–17, 18–21 Bronze

European Junior Championships

Girls' singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2011Vantaan Energia Arena, Vantaa, Finland Beatriz Corrales21–14, 23–21 Gold
2009Federal Technical Centre - Palabadminton, Milan, Italy Anne Hald Jensen21–18, 18–21, 19–21 Silver

BWF World Tour (4 titles, 5 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Women's singles
YearTournamentLevelOpponentScoreResult
2020Spain MastersSuper 300 Pornpawee Chochuwong21–11, 16–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2020Indonesia MastersSuper 500 Ratchanok Intanon19–21, 21–11, 18–21 Runner-up
2019Syed Modi InternationalSuper 300 Phittayaporn Chaiwan21–12, 21–16 Winner
2019French OpenSuper 750 An Se-young21–16, 18–21, 5–21 Runner-up
2019China OpenSuper 1000 Tai Tzu-ying14–21, 21–17, 21–18 Winner
2019Indonesia MastersSuper 500 Saina Nehwal10–4 Retired Runner-up
2019Malaysia MastersSuper 500 Ratchanok Intanon9–21, 20–22 Runner-up
2018China OpenSuper 1000 Chen Yufei21–18, 21–13 Winner
2018Japan OpenSuper 750 Nozomi Okuhara21–19, 17–21, 21–11 Winner

BWF Superseries (6 titles, 4 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. BWF Superseries has two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.
Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2017Japan Open He Bingjiao23–21, 21–12 Winner
2017Singapore Open Tai Tzu-ying15–21, 15–21 Runner-up
2017Malaysia Open Tai Tzu-ying25–23, 20–22, 13–21 Runner-up
2017India Open P. V. Sindhu19–21, 16–21 Runner-up
2015Hong Kong Open Nozomi Okuhara21–17, 18–21, 22–20 Winner
2015French Open Wang Shixian21–18, 21–10 Winner
2015Australian Open Wang Shixian22–20, 21–18 Winner
2015Malaysia Open Li Xuerui19–21, 21–19, 21–17 Winner
2015All England Open Saina Nehwal16–21, 21–14, 21–7 Winner
2014Australian Open Saina Nehwal18–21, 11–21 Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation since 2007.
Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2017German Open Akane YamaguchiWalkover Runner-up
2015German Open Sung Ji-hyun15–21, 21–14, 6–21 Runner-up
2015Syed Modi International Saina Nehwal21–19, 23–25, 16–21 Runner-up
2013Scottish Open Kirsty Gilmour21–14, 11–21, 21–13 Winner
2013London Open Kirsty Gilmour21–19, 21–9 Winner

BWF International Challenge/Series (9 titles, 5 runners-up)

Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2019Italian International Rituparna Das21–19, 21–14 Winner
2014Spanish Open Kirsty Gilmour19–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2013Italian International Sabrina Jaquet21–15, 21–14 Winner
2013Spanish Open Beatriz Corrales19–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2013Finnish Open Beatriz Corrales21–10, 21–15 Winner
2013Swedish Masters Nicole Schaller21–6, 21–10 Winner
2011Irish International Pai Hsiao-ma21–12, 19–21, 7–21 Runner-up
2011Spanish Open Olga Konon21–13, 21–14 Winner
2011Morocco International Juliane Schenk21–17, 21–13 Winner
2010Italian International Olga Konon20–22, 14–21 Runner-up
2010Cyprus International Olga Golovanova21–12, 25–27, 21–14 Winner
2010Uganda International Anne Hald Jensen21–18, 19–21, 21–18 Winner
2009Irish International Rachel van Cutsen22–24, 21–14, 21–16 Winner
2009Cyprus International Špela Silvester21–23, 21–23 Runner-up

Performance timeline

National team

Team events200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
European Women's Team ChampionshipsGSGSQF Bronze BronzeGS
European Mixed Team ChampionshipsGSGSGSw/dGSGS
Uber CupGSw/d
Sudirman CupAAA17thw/dA

Individual competitions

Event200920102011
European U-17 Championships GoldA
European Junior Championships Silver Gold
World Junior ChampionshipsAQF Bronze

SinglesPlayedWinsLossesBalance
Total493381112+269
Current year 25205+15

DoublesPlayedWinsLossesBalance
Total271611+5
Current year 0000

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 17 March 2020.