MADRID, 1 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Huelva-born Carolina Marín advanced to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open on Thursday after defeating Indian player Ashmita Chaliha in two sets (21-18 and 21-13), coming from the previous phase.
The fourth seed in the tournament knew how to withstand the higher pace and intensity proposed by her rival from her rival in the first match, something more disputed, to then finish off the job in a much more placid second round for the Spanish.
Chaliha offered forty minutes of resistance against the European champion in the opening game, until Marín took off on the scoreboard from 15-13 with five points in a row. With 20-13 and everything in her favour, the Huelva player took a long time to close this set, with an Indian who hit her back, also with five consecutive points to make it 20-18, when the Spanish player reacted to clear up possible doubts and settle the first sleeve.
In the second game, the Huelva player led the game with greater dominance and reliability, hardly giving India any options, who saw Marín go up 10-4 to channel their second victory in Thailand. The Spaniard knew how to manage that great advantage and closed the second set and the match 21-13, directly to the quarterfinals.
“I’m happy with the game and with the sensations,” said Marín after his victory. “I have better control of the steering wheel in this pavilion, where the conditions are complicated because it is very windy. In the quarterfinals we will go all out again,” he added.
The Spanish rival in the quarterfinals will be the Canadian Michelle Li, fifteenth in the ranking and who eliminated the Indian Pusarla Sindhu in the first round. In the round of 16, she left the sixth seed, the Chinese Wang Zhi Yi, out of the tournament 21-12 and 21-15. Marín and Li have met six times, with four victories for the Huelva player, the last in 2021.