Changzhou: After suffering a career-threatening injury in January 2019, Carolina Marin of Spain made a strong return to the badminton scene by winning the China Open on Sunday against World No. 4 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.
The second-seeded Tai won the first set 21-14, but Marin would not go down without a fight as she reversed that result, winning the second and third with 21-17, 21-18.
Marin shed tears as she descended to the court and buried her hands after a spectacular win.
“I’ve improved a lot during this week. It’s unbelievable that I can win the second tournament after coming back. But I did it. I feel really really happy,” said Marin, who loss in the first round of Vietnam Open last week.
She also described that she couldn’t imagine that she would ever won any tournament again after suffering a ruptured ACL in January and was out of tournament for 7 months receiving treatment and going through rehabilitation.
“It’s a tough recovery journey,” added Marin.
In an all-Chinese mixed doubles final, No. 1 seeds Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong celebrated their win by defeating compatriot Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping 21-17, 13-21, 21-16 to take the China Open title, while Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan won second title for the hosts as they beat No. 2 seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi from Japan 21-14, 21-18 to win the women’s doubles title.
