Changzhou: The Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain had to dig deep to fight back from dropping the first set to beat He Bingjiao of China 11-21, 21-14, 21-15 in the quarter-finals of China Open on Friday.
Marin opened a 12-5 lead in the decider, but then He Bingjiao then scored seven consecutive points to tie the game at 12-12. Marin then recomposed herself and ultimately win the decider 21-15.
“I was not used to the shuttlecock in the first set due to the wind,” said Marin.
“After we changed sides, I told myself to reduce my mistakes and do a lot of running, and she got tired,” explained Marin.
“I think my game is improving, and I have slowly regained my confidence,” said the three-time world champion.
“I don’t feel pain anymore, I just need to keep working on my game,” added Marin who suffered a ruptured ACL in her right knee while playing in the final of the Indonesia Masters against Saina Nehwal of India in January this year.
Marin will next face Sayaka Takahashi of Japan, who pulled off an upset to narrowly defeat sixth-seeded Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 14-21, 21-14, 22-20.
Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan outlasted Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-17, 21-10 in the women’s singles quarterfinals and will meet third seed Chen Yufei of China in the last four.
