TOKYO
\nA horror injury wrecked Carolina Marin\u2019s Tokyo Olympics dream but now the Spanish badminton star is aiming for a record fourth world title and gold at the 2024 Paris Games.
\nMarin was the hot favourite for the Tokyo title last year until a knee injury in May forced her to miss not just the Olympics but also the world championships in her home town of Huelva five months later.
\nThe 29-year-old returned to action in May this year and she is making up for lost time at the world championships in Tokyo this week.
\nMarin staved off four match points to book her place in the quarter-finals with a 16-21, 21-15, 22-20 win over China\u2019s He Bingjiao on Thursday, letting out a wild scream of celebration after sealing the deal.
\nShe insisted a record fourth world title was not at the forefront of her mind but said her win over He gave her the \u201cself-confidence to face other top players\u201d.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to think about the title every day because this is something that is going to happen only on Sunday when you win the last game,\u201d she told AFP after setting up a blockbuster quarter-final against top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
\n\u201cI want to push myself as far as I can. I want to give my best in every game that I have to play here and of course I\u2019m looking forward to playing another quarter-final.\u201d
\nThe anterior cruciate ligament knee tear Marin suffered last year came just two years after she ruptured the ACL in her other knee — an injury that kept her out for eight months of 2019.
\nShe said her two injuries were \u201creally tough for the body but mainly mentally\u201d adding that the thought of winning Olympic gold in 2024 had kept her going.
\n\u201cWhen I broke my second knee, something that motivated me was that I couldn\u2019t win in Tokyo so I wanted to win the gold medal in Paris,\u201d said Marin, the 2016 Olympic champion.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to put pressure on myself to keep this kind of goal in my mind. This is something that is going to happen in two years but it\u2019s something that sometimes motivates yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO A horror injury wrecked Carolina Marin\u2019s Tokyo Olympics dream but now the Spanish badminton star is aiming for a record fourth world title and gold at the 2024 Paris Games. Marin was the hot favourite for the Tokyo title last year until a knee injury in May forced her to miss not just the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-279612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n