The badminton world had been waiting 20 months for the return of a certain Carolina Marin, who had announced her comeback at next month’s European Championships in her hometown of Huelva.
But it wasn’t to be.
“My journey in professional badminton has come to an end and therefore I will not be competing in the European Championships in Huelva,” the 32-year-old Marin said in a social media post announcing her retirement on Thursday.
As one of modern-day badminton’s greatest exponents, Marin redefined the sport through her feistiness, raw power, high intensity, speed and aggression, which helped her conquer one Olympics (2016) and three World Championships (2014, 2015, 2018).
In the process, the Spaniard dismantled her opponents through incredible psychological aggression that set her apart from any other shuttler. Her high-pitched shrieks, loud “vamos” calls and hyper activism on court — she used all as tactical tools to annoy and intimidate opponents — was in stark contrast to the unresponsive and largely quiet rivals, leading to their undoing, forcing them to commit errors.
Extremely tactical, skillful and resilient, the former world No.1 was perhaps the grittiest player of her generation, winning games from impossible situations. Take the 2019 China Open final for example. In her first significant tournament after returning to the circuit following a career-threatening ACL tear, Marin produced a brilliant come-from-behind victory to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying in three games.
An absolute force of nature, being left-handed gave the Spaniard a natural advantage that helped her create awkward angles for right-handed opponents. Her cross-court smashes and deceptive drops from the back were particularly difficult to read.
With lightning-fast footwork, Marin was known to attack the bird at the earliest, barely ever waiting for it, giving her rivals less time to react. Marin thrived on creating front-court pressure, using her ability to return flat and fast exchanges without much difficulty that also helped her claim two All England Open titles.
Marin’s game was as much about mental dominance as it was about physical skill. Taking frequent breaks, staring down at her rivals and controlling the pace ensured she had it her way on court.
As she leaves the game, one of Marin’s standout legacies would be emerging from a country with barely any heritage in badminton to dominating the sport despite the presence of greats like Tai Tzu of Chinese Taipei, China’s Chen Yufei and Li Xuerui, Japanese Akane Yamaguchi and India’s own PV Sindhu.
She is the only non-Asian women’s singles shuttler to win gold at the Olympics and World Championships apart from being the only player to win at least seven gold medals in a single discipline of any continental event, having won every European Championships title since 2014. Such was her popularity that she was appointed the brand ambassador of La Liga.
Had it not been for her recurring knee issues, Marin could have most probably won more medals at both the Olympics and World Championships. The favourite to defend the title at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she had pulled out of the extravaganza due to the knee injury.
Three years later at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Marin reached the semi-finals fighting all the odds and much younger opponents. She was leading 21-14, 10-8 against China’s He Bing Jiao when she fell after a bad landing following an overhead smash, causing a tearful Marin to not just pull out of the last-four clash but also the bronze playoff against Indonesia Gregoria Mariska Tunjung — effectively making the Olympics her last event.
“I would have liked for us to see each other one last time on court, but I don’t want to put my body at risk for that. I’ve said it many times, and I stand by my decision. I wish my career had ended in a different way, but in life things don’t always go as we want and we have to accept that. Deep down, I did retire on court, in Paris in 2024. We just didn’t know it at the time,” said Marin.
With a huge fan following in India, Marin will be remembered for her battles with Saina Nehwal (Marin leading 7-6 in head-to-head) and Sindhu (12-6 in favour of the Spaniard). While Marin beat Saina in the World Championships and All England finals (both in 2015), the Spaniard got the better of Sindhu in two epic finals — 2016 Rio Olympics and 2018 World Championships.
“My path ends here. Thank you all, because you’ve also been part of it. In this new chapter, I will carry with me the values that have guided me so far, and I will try to give back to society everything it has given me over the years. It has been a wonderful journey,” concluded Marin.
