Carolina Marin built upon her already-impressive record at the European Championships with a sixth sixth consecutive title, making a winning comeback from a serious knee injury that she suffered a year ago.
The Spaniard, who had opted out of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in her left knee, defended her European Championships crown for a fifth consecutive time. Out of competition for a year and having missed the Olympics and World Championships, Marin entertained her home crowd throughout the week. She bested one opponent after another to claim a record-breaking sixth consecutive title.
The 28-year-old, facing familiar opponent Kirsty Gilmour, won 21-10 21-12 in 42 minutes.
“I played better today in the final. It is not easy to control in front of these amazing spectators at home. I took all the energy and power they gave me during the match, and wanted everyone to enjoy me on the court,” said Marin.
She now has one title more than Danish legend Peter Gade in the singles and equals Gillian Gilks for the most number of titles in one category (Gilks won six in mixed doubles). The last winner in the women’s singles category was Tine Baun, who retired almost a decade ago.
“I feel extremely happy, but it’s not about winning the gold medal today. Being able to come back and playing my first tournament of the season is bigger,” Marin said.
“I needed to improve my game and play some matches to gain confidence. I could do that in this tournament. I will enjoy this big story with my team, friends, and family right now. On Monday, we start again.”
Three for Axelsen, Stoevas
Hat-trick for the Stoevas.
Viktor Axelsen won his third men’s singles crown after a span of four years, while the Stoeva sisters picked up their third consecutive women’s doubles title.
The match between Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen could not live up to expectations. An error-prone and frustrated Antonsen put up good resistance, but it was not enough to put his senior compatriot under enough pressure.
“It wasn’t the most beautiful game. It was hard to control the shuttle and produce a high quality. I didn’t use too much energy throughout the tournament, but it was about being able to win,” Axelsen said.
Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva won their third consecutive crown, barely breaking a sweat in beating Linda Efler/ Isabel Lohau 21-14 21-10.
“We are very happy. Indeed, we came for the title and played some good matches on the way. It was mentally tough, since everyone wants to beat us,” Stefani Stoeva said.
“Our main target is to win a World Championships medal this year.”
Mark Lamsfuss (right) and Marvin Seidel.
Lamsfuss Gets a Double
Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss/Isabel Lohau took the mixed doubles crown for the first time, beating France’s Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue 16-21 22-20 21-16 after recovering from the brink of defeat at 17-19 in the second game.
Lamsfuss then partnered Marvin Seidel to beat Scotland’s Alexander Dunn/Adam Hall 21-17 21-16.
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