Badminton Year-Ender: Top 5 shuttlers of the 2018 season

#5 Carolina Marin

She may not be on a title-winning spree, she may look less than her 100% fitness. But never ever count out Carolina Marin for one thing she never lacks in -- hunger.

The 25-year-old has bagged every elite title possible in the world of badminton -- an Olympic gold, the world championships and even the European Championships. Yet that has not diminished her motivation to keep scaling the heights one bit.

Since her Rio Olympic gold medal in 2016, the Spaniard hadn’t been at her imperious best and slumped to unexpected early losses. Injuries played a big role in not letting her have the kind of performances she would have liked.

But in the second half of 2018, Marin showed that she was nowhere gone. By beating quality opponents like Saina, Sindhu and Bingjiao, the former World No. 1 asserted her supremacy once again en route to becoming the only women’s singles shuttler to win the World Championships title thrice.

And she didn’t stop there. She carried on that immaculate form to the Japan Open and the China Open to have a pristine Asian swing, winning 15 matches in a row.

Along with the European Championships, Marin won four titles in 2018 and has begun to look dangerous as ever.

Edited by Sripad