New Delhi: Olympic champion Carolina Marin has sent a warning to her rivals in the badminton world, saying she expects to be at her absolute best during next month's All England Championships. The 24-year-old from Spain clinched two World Championship titles, an All England title beside the Olympic crown - all within three years between 2014 to 2016.
But she lost motivation because of injuries post the Rio Games. Last year, she won the Japan Open and European Championship besides reaching the finals at India Open, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open. However, she suffered a hip injury during the Hong Kong Superseries and missed the Dubai Superseries Finals in December. Marin feels she still needs to sharpen her skills and vowed to be at her best at the All England Championships.
"I feel my performance is not 100 per cent but it would be there in the All England. I feel motivated because I want to keep improving my game. I will prepare very well for All England," said the former world no. 1 Marin. "Last year it was hard because I had injuries after Olympics and my body needed a long break. It is always tough to keep going mentally after you have an injury but I have a good team.
"I had to believe in myself. I had to change my game during that phase and I didn't get enough time to prepare for tournaments. I want to focus on improving my game after this event," said Marin, who is playing at the India Open here. The All England Championships is schedule to be held from March 14 to 18 at Birmingham. Her mentor and chief coach Fernando Rivas will not travel with her for every tournament from now on and Marin said with her coach not around she needs to be more focused on court.
"I have another coach, who knows what I need. Fernando has a baby so he couldn't come and he can't be there in all tournaments with me. Now I will have to think more about myself and the game," said Marin, who guided Hyderabad Hunters to title triumph in PBL 3 last month. Talking about competition in women's singles, Marin said: "Women singles is really tough. Any player in top 10 can win any tournament because they are in the same level. Every player changes their game. So we have to be really prepared.
