Marin wants to win one more Olympic gold, two more world

Carolina Marin says she has to achieve much more to be termed as the best-ever.

Carolina Marin has clinched the World Championship title in women’s singles three times and is a four-time European Champion.

She is the reigning Olympic and World Champion in women’s singles, but Spain’s badminton star Carolina Marin says she has to achieve much more to be termed as the best-ever.

Elaborating, Marin said she has to win one more Olympic title and at least two more World Championships to be considered the best ever shuttler in history.

“I want to be the best player in history, and for that I have to win one more Olympic (title), and minimum two more World Championships. It’s easy to say, I know it’s going to be really difficult. But this is what (I will say) to keep myself motivated,” she said.

“This is why I had a period of one and a half years which were not very good. I didn’t have any motivation to tell myself to keep practising hard.

“It was really difficult, not just for myself but also my team, to keep motivating ourselves,” Marin said when asked what keeps her going despite achieving everything.

The 25-year-old, who will be part of Pune7Aces in the upcoming Premier Badminton League which begins here on December 22, spoke to reporters in the build-up to the tournament.

Marin has clinched the World Championship title in women’s singles three times — 2014, 2015 and 2018. She is already a four-time European Champion and a former World number 1.

Quizzed whether she lacked motivation after her success at the 2016 Olympics, Marin replied, “Yes, exactly. Because I already reached that high.”

Asked specifically for the reason why she felt she needed two more World Championship crowns to be considered as the best-ever, Marin said, “I’m the only one (among women) who has three. Lin Dan (China) has 5. So this is something I want to equal."

According to Marin, her goal for 2019 is to keep focus on major tournaments. “I am going to care about my injuries and my body. And then, just keep my focus on the major tournaments."

Ace tennis player and compatriot Rafael Nadal is her inspiration.

“He’s inspired me a lot, on court as well as off court. He’s a very humble person. I love these kind of persons. He has achieved everything in his career but he still wants to keep going and wants to keep winning,” she said.