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What’s the story?
That the pan-Indian Premier Badminton League (PBL) has been helping players in sharpening their skills is well-known. Now the validation comes from the reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin, who has recently talked about how she has been benefitting from the PBL.
In a chat with News 18 Sports, the former World No. 1 has said that the lack of top players back home in Spain makes it difficult for her preparations ahead of a new season. That is where the PBL comes into play and she has been using it to get a chance to practise with the elite shuttlers from around the world.
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“PBL is going to be practice tournament for me, where I can play and train with top players. I don’t have such quality players in Spain, so here I can improve a lot and learn for foreign players,” said the 24-year-old, who has been a PBL regular for three years in a row.
In case you didn’t know
Marin was unable to take the court in Hyderabad Hunters’ PBL 2018 tie against the Ahmedabad Smash Masters on Friday night in New Delhi as she was indisposed. Her side was edged 3-4 by the debutant PBL team.
The heart of the matter
Marin has been bothered by quite a few injuries of late. Since claiming the Rio Olympics gold, she has managed to win just one Superseries title, which was the Japan Open in September.
Even after that, she failed to build on that momentum as a hip injury cut short her progress and robbed her of a chance to play at the World Superseries Finals in Dubai earlier this month.
The southpaw has learned from that ordeal and is self-admittedly taking care of her body better these days. The Huelva-born ace revealed that she now has a dedicated physiotherapist and a separate team that is constantly looking after her fitness.
“The movements on the court are very fast and explosive. So I have to take care of every part of my body,” she said.
“I have a physiotherapist, who takes care of me. In fact there is a separate team that tries to keep me injury-free,” added the two-time world champion.
What’s next?
The Hunters will play their next match against the Delhi Dashers on December 31 in New Delhi.
Author’s take
It is heartening to hear such nice words about the PBL from such a stalwart of the game. Let us hope more top shuttlers are encouraged to follow in the footsteps of Marin in the following few editions.
