Not impossible for Marin to realise new goals, says coach Rivas

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing PBL-4 season, Rivas, who is the personal coach of Marin — who is playing for Pune7Aces this season — says the women’s singles scenario has changed a lot since Marin had won her maiden world title.

Fernando Rivas is in Hyderabad for the PBL.

Fernando Rivas faces another challenge from his most famous ward, three-time World and reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

For, the champion shuttler from Spain has gone on record, stating that she is gunning for two more World titles and one more Olympic gold. “Yes, it is a matter of pride to be her coach. I don’t think it is impossible for her to realise the new goals. We will have to work out our plan accordingly and you all know it is not going to be easy at the same time given the kind of competition and changing styles of the players she will be up against,” says Rivas in a chat with Sportstar .

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing PBL-4 season, Rivas, who is the personal coach of Marin — who is playing for Pune7Aces this season — says the women’s singles scenario has changed a lot since Marin had won her maiden world title. “It is imperative for any player and more so for Marin with renewed goals to adapt to the new ways of attacking game and making the kind of adjustments to get the better of the opponents,” he says.

Carolina Marin exults after defeating Beiwen Zhang.

 

“Well, if you ask me to pinpoint the salient features which really impress me about the top players it will be like this. Tai Tzu for her deception of strokes, Sindhu for her attacking game, Saina for her consistency and Okuhara for being a ‘runner’ on the court,” says a smiling Rivas.

 “Yes, I do feel that Marin is the combination of all these traits or else she would have not won so many titles,” says the Spanish coach.

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“China always produces quality players because of the high level and very knowledgeable coaches. But I am not surprised at the way the other players have started dominating the world badminton scene now. That is why the Chinese monopoly no longer exists. The fans want someone else to be a world or an Olympic champion now, may be,” he explained.

The PBL, Rivas feels, is more beneficial for the Indian players who are getting trained under Gopi Chand. “They play against higher-ranked players and they tend to improve which in turn helps Indian badminton more,” he felt.

“In terms of competition this edition too remains the same. Personally, we hope it is only a question of time before Pune7Aces gets into the winning act. We are capable of doing that,” he signed off.