As soon as she touched the sky, Carlina Marín fell to the ground. Her face down, with her hands over her face and crying with joy. Her coach, Fernando Rivas, was the first person to approach Huelva. The second was Pusarla Sindhu. The Indian player had just lost the final of the Rio Olympics, but her friend had won. Also, in a game to remember. Pusarla took the first set, very close, and Carolina came back with authority, closing the gold in a pristine third set. “It was a great match. We both gave 100% of what we had at the time. She played very, very well and she could only win one. For me, it was hard, of course. Since then, many things have changed”, recalls Sindhu, in a conversation with AS, from that August 20, 2016. Seven years ago now.
On the track, the Indian player, who impacts due to her size and strength, is ice. Her character, very calm, contrasts with Carolina’s, pure fire. Beyond the competition, however, they understand themselves as few players on the international circuit. “She is a great friend. Despite the fact that we are rivals on the court, we are good friends outside. It is a friendship that will last forever. I think that in sport it should be like that. As I said, in each match you play, there can only be one winner, everyone wants to win and works hard for it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make friends off the court”, reflects Sindhu. In the Madrid Spain Masters, Marín leads the field from the top and Pusarla from the bottom. They were the favorites for a hypothetical final and, for now, they are making good bets: they are one game away from repeating the Rio final.
It is the first time for Sindhu in Madrid. Carolina, for her part, has competed several times in India. Despite this, and her strong friendship, they have never met in the Southeast Asian country. “We have yet to see each other in India, at my house. Whenever he has come to play, we have not been able to coincide. I hope that the next time he comes we can see each other in my country”, wants Pusarla, nicknamed ‘dragon slayer’ for her ability to defeat Chinese players, something she does share with Carolina. The two, too, come from overcoming complicated sections in their careers. “I remember the last Games, when we both played the final. It was nice to compete against you. I’m going to miss you, see you on the track. I hope we can compete again soon. Come back quickly and get well soon. Lots of kisses”, he dedicated the Indian player to Carolina after her serious injury two months before the Tokyo Games, in which Pusarla was bronze.
A classic that wants more
“She is a very strong player. And she has come back strong, ”Sindhu now says about her Spanish friend, who eleven months ago, in her reappearance after destroying her knee, she won the sixth European title followed by her in Madrid. Since their iconic final, they have met eight more times, with an overall record of ten wins for Carolina and five for Pusarla. A badminton classic. She, after winning the last Commonwealth Games, was away from the slopes for five months due to an injury to her left foot. Now, both are close to the umpteenth final of their careers. And they look at Paris. “It will not be easy. Hopefully! We’ve both been fighting and overcoming a lot since then (Rio). We are going to try, that’s for sure”, says Sindhu about a possible Olympic reissue of that final. Before, it can be given in the capital.
