Madrid: Carolina Marin’s has successfully completed surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) injury in her right knee on Tuesday. She posted on her social media pages after the surgery with a hashtag, #PuedoPorquePiensoQuePuedo, which translated to, “I can, because I think I can.”
The Spaniard ruptured her ACL in last Sunday’s Indonesia Masters final against Saina Nehwal of India. Marin was leading in the first game but landed awkwardly on her right leg as she was hitting an overhead return. She was immediately in pain but continued to play for two more points and had to retire from the match.
This was the similar injury suffered by 2012 London Olympic women’s singles champion, Li Xuerui of China in the semifinal of Rio Olympic. Medical examination was later showed that Li tore her ACL and also had injury in lateral meniscus.
Li made her return to competitive badminton on August, 2017, however, it’s been difficult for the former World No. 1 to returning to her previous peak form.
The Chinese player took to her social media page on Tuesday, saying: “it’s sad, hope all athletes can stay healthy to play more exciting games for the fans. Wish her a speedy recover, it’s going to be a long journey, hope she can stay strong.”
While Marin’s injury can be considered as a small part of playing the sport, but the increasingly frequent injuries suffered by players on the badminton circuit is rather concerning.
By nature, badminton is a really intensive sport, and since early 2018, Badminton World Federation (BWF) has required players to compete in a minimum 12 World Tour competitions per year.
The hectic schedule has been a grind for many players, it didn’t provide players enough time to rest and to recuperate, which eventually could wear them down, push their endurance to the limit, and even cause injuries.
Carolina Marin, the reigning Olympic and world champion, is expected to be out of action for at least six months to go through rehabilitation and to return to fitness. If her recovery would take longer, that could jeopardize her chances of making the Tokyo Olympics.
