JABAR EKSPRES – Spanish women’s badminton player Carolina Marin celebrated her 30th birthday by securing a ticket to the Indonesia Open 2023 quarterfinals on Thursday.
Marin got the ticket after defeating Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min through two straight games 26-24, 23-21 in the round of 16 held at Istora Senayan Jakarta.
“We have a tight schedule throughout the year, there are many tournaments. Many players celebrate their birthdays (while) being all over the world. For myself, my birthday is always when I’m in Indonesia,” said Marin when met after the match.
However, the LaLiga ambassador said his special day could have an impact on his mentality when competing, as he wanted to perform smoothly without a hitch. This was evident with Marin who was quite overwhelmed by Yeo’s balls, forcing her to deuce in two games.
The 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist admitted that she was not satisfied and did not appear loose in her performance today.
“I’m happy to win the match, but not too happy with my performance. I think I was thinking too much about winning and not about how to play. When you don’t focus on the strategy, sometimes it’s difficult to play especially with the situation in the (crowded) stadium,” Marin explained.
“And maybe because it’s a special day, today is my birthday. Sometimes, when you want to win too much and just focus on that, the strategy gets forgotten. When you don’t focus on the strategy, then you’re not in the match and your opponent will easily do things to you,” she added.
When asked if the 2023 Indonesia Open title would be his target or birthday present this time, the three-time world champion admitted that he did not think too far and chose to focus on the round after round that he would play in Jakarta.
