Carolina Marin and her aggressive approach is too hot to handle for her opponents

The Spanish southpaw’s ruthless ability to unsettle her opponents is her biggest strength.

Shuttler Carolina Marin (Image Credits - Twitter)
By Karthik Raman | Mar 16, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

If a single word in the dictionary can describe Carolina Marin, then it has to be aggressiveness. The left-handed Spaniard is at her best when she takes the game to her opponent. Her aggressive attacking style along with her sharp smash shots makes her a lethal killing machine on the court. She charges at her opponents from word go, hardly giving them time to settle down. This approach has worked wonders for Marin as she continues to rule the badminton world with aplomb.

Outside her motherland, Carolina is hugely popular in India. It is not only limited to her exploits in the Premier Badminton League, but also has to do with her epic clashes against Indian shuttlers in the major finals. She notably defeated India’s poster girl for badminton – PV Sindhu – in the 2016 Rio Olympics final. The Spaniard beat her again in the 2018 World Championships final. In the midst of it, Sindhu got the better of Marin in the 2017 India Open title clash.

Carolina also had her fair share of memorable duels with Saina Nehwal. She beat Saina to win the 2015 All England Open. Later that year, Marin defended her title at the World Championships by beating Nehwal once again. In the 2019 Indonesia Masters final, she withdrew midway through the game with an injury, thereby handing the title to Saina. The Indian had also defeated her in the finals of the 2014 Australian Open and the 2015 Syed Modi International Badminton Championships.

Rise to fame

Marin, who was a Flamenco dancer in her childhood, took up badminton racket at a tender age of eight. After leaving her hometown Huelva for Madrid at a very young age to train at the National Centre, her talent for the game became quickly evident.

Her first major title came at the Irish International tournament in 2009 after she came through the qualification stage to upset the title favourite Rachel Van Cutsen in the final. She then went on to create plenty of firsts for her country as her aggressive approach was too hot for the opponents to handle.

In 2013 London Grand Prix Gold, she became the first Spaniard to win a Grand Prix Gold title and a year later she defeated Li Xuerui of China in the 2014 World Championships women’s singles final. Marin not only became the first Spanish shuttler to win a World Championships title, but was also the third European female player to bag the Gold medal.  

There was no stopping her as Marin kept winning a plethora of medals and trophies. With numerous European Championships and World Championships titles, she was ruling the sport with utter dominance. It is hard to believe that she is only 27 years old.

With many years left in her career, the defending Olympic champion can only get better. If she can maintain her ruthless aggressive nature, it will be nearly impossible for her rivals to stop her. Without a shadow of a doubt, Marin is the best among the rest in the world right now.