World number three Carolina Marin has revealed that she is determined to climb back to the top of Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings and that she is focussed on winning tournaments in order to achieve her goal.
The reigning Olympic champion conceded the top spot to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying after the latter won the Hong Kong Open Superseries last November. Marin has also suffered a title drought since winning the gold medal in the Women's singles category at the Rio Games last year.
On the other hand, Tai has consolidated her position at the top by winning a record four Superseries titles on the trot - Hong Kong Open and BWF World Superseries Finals (2016), All England Championships and Malaysia Open (2017). Notably, the Taiwanese edged past Marin in a gruelling title match in Malaysia last week.
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Despite starting the season on a high, Marin has been unable to go the distance in tournaments as she also lost at the India Open title match to world number two PV Sindhu. However, the 23-year-old Spaniard is not bogged down by the recent disappointments but is motivated to win more titles.
Having won world titles, including the Olympic gold and BWF World Championships, Marin reveals that she wants to be the best Women's singles player in the history of sport. One more Olympic gold and two more world championships, according to her, will help her achieve the honour.
"My goal this year was to win the All England again, but I could not. So I would like to win some Superseries titles and, of course, the main goal is the world championships in August," Marin said, as quoted by The New Paper.
"I want to be world No. 1 again and I will fight to get there. I do not really care about the world rankings. I do not even know what mine is now. But I know to be No. 1.
"I want to be the best women's singles player in history in the world of badminton. I need one more Olympic title and two more world championships. These are my goals now."
In Singapore, Marin is seeded fourth and she will open her campaign against Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwang on Wednesday and is likely to face her arch-rival Sindhu in the quarter-final. With top-ranked stars aiming to prove their mettle, the in-form Spaniard knows she has a tough road ahead but is confident of going the distance.
"I will try to reach another final and win another title. I know there are many tough games from the beginning, but I'm looking forward to the start on Wednesday," Marin added.
