Marin back to her best with second All England victory
Carolina Marin’s hug with her mother meant more than we can ever know.
Nine years after she won her first All England title, the Spaniard was back as champion in Birmingham.
It was her first All England final and triumph since she lost her father Gonzalo three years ago.
“As many people know, I lost my dad two, three years ago, and I only have her [her mum],” Marin said.
“And it’s really special because it’s my second time that I won the All England and for the first one, she couldn’t come.
“To celebrate and to have her here during the whole week, I feel really good, I know she was screaming my name a lot.
“I feel very proud of her and I know she feels very proud of me.”
The two shared an emotional moment after Marin claimed the title following Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi retirement with the game at 26-24 10-1 in Marin’s favour.
Marin had spoken all week about the changes she and her team had made to various elements of her game.
The 30-year-old would not be drawn on what exactly those changes were, the uber-competitive three-time world champion not wanting to give anything away to her competitors.
But she did reflect on how much had change since she last lifted the All England trophy.
She added: “Of course, things have changed a lot. To speak about things nine years ago, I was 21 years old and now I’m 30.
“And of course I have more experience from on court, I have many different ways to work mentally physically and about my game.
“But also the badminton game has changed a lot.
“I feel proud because I have showed to myself that I can do it, and this is the right way that I want to keep going.”
The next big event on the horizon is the European Championships in Saarbrucken where Marin will go for a seventh consecutive title.
After that, is the Olympic Games in Paris, with Marin hoping to add to her 2016 gold and 2020 bronze.
That is when Marin hoped the changes she made ahead of the All England in Birmingham would pay off.
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But if the test run has gone this well, she will wonder what is possible come the summer.
“We didn’t think about this tournament, we thought about the things that I need to improve, but not for this tournament,” Marin said.
“Actually, my main goal is going to be at the Olympic Games in the summer.
“I’m happy because this is the way that I have to keep going, so I want to keep the focus on the right way and just do new things when I have to play any game.”
