Top-ranked Carolina Marin said Thursday she would not rest until she had captured the World Superseries Final in Dubai, after cruising through her second-round match at the Hong Kong Open.
The two-time world champion from Spain is already set to finish 2016 on a career high after becoming the first non-Asian to win the women’s singles gold medal at the summer Olympics.
The historic victory came months after Marin secured her second European Championship title, consolidating her position as the world number one in the Badminton World Federation’s global rankings.Â
But outside of the Olympic triumph, Marin is still looking to grab her first superseries trophy for 2016.
“I would like to end the year with the title in Dubai,” the 23 year old told AFP, brushing off suggestions that anyone threatened her reign at the top.Â
“When you control yourself and when you do what you know on the court, you can beat anyone.”Â
The defending Hong Kong Open champ overcame an early deficit to beat local Yip Pui Yin in straight games, 21-18, 21-16, with the Spaniard’s signature shrieks drawing the occasional jeer from the partisan crowd.Â
In the day’s other action, India’s sixth-ranked Saina Nehwal weathered a three-game battle to book her ticket to the quarter-finals with a 21-18, 9-21, 21-16 win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato.Â
On the men’s side, Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen kept his hopes of securing back-to-back superseries titles alive thanks to a nail-biting 19-21Â 21-13Â 24-22 win late Thursday.
The China Open champ clawed his way back into the hour-long match after dropping the first game, fighting point-for-point with Hong Kong’s Wei Nan to secure his quarter-final berth. –Â Agence France-Presse
