MADRID, 26 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish player Carolina Marín returned to action this Tuesday eleven months after suffering a serious knee injury and did so with a resounding victory in her debut at the Badminton European Championships being held in Madrid, on a day where Beatriz also advanced Corrales and Kike Penalver.
The woman from Huelva showed that she has become competitive after overcoming a new serious physical mishap that made her miss the Tokyo Olympics and the World Cup in Huelva. Before her first rival in search of her sixth consecutive continental title, the Andalusian got rid of the Czech Katerina Tomalova in two sets by 21-10 and 21-6.
The triple world champion hardly had any trouble on the court of the Gallur Municipal Sports Center, which sheltered her with affection. Her rival started the match better (4-7), but Marín reacted forcefully with a devastating 12-1 run that helped her win the first set without any trouble.
The Spanish maintained her good line in the second, where she dominated this time from the start over a Tomalova who could do little and who had a hard time scoring many points. The Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro did not let up and she fast-tracked her advance to the third round where she will face Maria Ulitina.
In addition, the second day of competition also brought good news in the women’s classification of Beatriz Corrales, who after the trouble suffered in the premiere on Monday, was more firm to defeat the Serbian Marija Sudimac 21-9 and 21 -8. The player from Madrid, who could not be completely happy when she fell in doubles with Clara Azurmendi, will now seek the quarterfinals against the Danish Lina Hojmark Kjaersfeldt.
On the other hand, in the men’s draw, Kike Peñalver got into the second round after putting on a tough match against the Czech Jan Louda, whom he beat in three sets by 21-17, 18-21 and 21-10, while the veteran Pablo Abián fell to the Englishman Toby Penty 21-16, 11-21 and 21-18. The couples formed by José Molares and Jaume Pérez and by Alberto Zapico and Lorena Usle were eliminated, while Joan Monroy and Carlos Piris made their debut in the capital with flying colors.