Carolina Marin is among a rare breed of players who
is not only a proficient badminton player but also a great
athlete.
She is so fit that engaging her over 3 sets is futile as she can play
at a constant high pace throughout 3 sets and even shift gears to high
speed gear to close up a match.She can even recover very fast in fast
furious rallies and put the shuttle down.As TV commentators say, the
faster one plays against her the greater the advantage to her.As the old
saying goes the faster you hit the shuttle to your opponent the faster it
comes back to you.One of the areas she thrives on is the ability for
fast counter-attacks before the opponent can recover physically or
regain their composure.
Li Xue Rue has failed twice to beat Marin over 3 sets.Probably it is
because she expanded too much energy in the 1st or 2nd sets and had
no more juice left in the decider to close the match as then she was
suffering from fatigue.Perhaps the best way to beat Marin would be to
take her over 3 sets and cruising in the 1 st or 2nd set to reserve energy
for the third.
This was the same tactic used by Lin Dan to beat a very fit and stubborn
Lee Chong Wei.
At the moment Li Xue Rui,Saina Nehwal,Sun Yu or Wang Shi Xian
do not have the mental strength or tenacity to beat Marin,but Ratchanok,
Okuhara and Yamaguchi have the physical means to beat her as they can
use their energy more efficiently against her.
Hopefully Marin will be reduced to an also-ran soon as her brand
of Susi Susanti style badminton ,ie.the runner,retriever,athlete type is
ruining the game for those spectators who want to see more elegant
badminton.That is apart from her annoying shrieks on court.
At the moment her coach must be using Lee Chong Wei's training
methods ie.gym work as that used by sprinters as well as endurance
running.The playing style suggests that he may have been studying
the playing styles of Susi Susanti,Lee Chong Wei or Yang Yang