Win or lose, the World Championships is proving to be an amazing experience for all players.
While we had to say goodbye to more European players today at the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships, some were still to play their first match at the Royal Arena, Copenhagen. Three-time world champion Carolina Marin finally got her chance to go on court, in today’s Round fo 32, against Iris Wang, USA.
“I feel really happy about my performance. It’s always difficult to play the first match in a tournament because you have to see what the conditions are and what the drift is like. I think I was in control,” said the Spaniard after her win against Wang, 21-10 21-6.
Tomorrow, Marin will face Thet Htar Thuzar, Myanmar. The reigning European champion is aiming high but doesn’t want to lose focus on taking it match by match. “Honestly, I want to play on Sunday. I want to go as high as I can, but we have to go step by step. I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow and giving my best.”
Among the highs and lows, Belgium’s Julien Carraggi was not in the latter despite being out of the World Championships after losing against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto. “I’m happy. I had never played against Nishimoto. I’ve watched him plenty of times since I was young so I was really looking forward to this match, no matter what the result.”
The match against the number 15 in the world proved to be an amazing experience for the Belgian player, who pushed the match to three games, 22-24, 25-23, 8-21. “I just tried to enjoy every second on court, still fighting and believing in myself.”
Matches will be starting at 12pm tomorrow. Players will be competing in the Round of 16.