Carolina Marin, Olympic champion and PV Sindhu’s fiercest opponent, retires

Carolina Marin, an Olympic gold medallist and the fiercest opponent of India's badminton ace P V Sindhu, has announced her retirement.

The 32-year-old Spaniard said on Thursday that she was forced to call it a day due to a knee injury that has troubled her for some time.

Marin had planned to return to compete in the European Championships at her birthplace, Huelva, next month. "I'd have liked for us to see each other one last time on court, but I don't want to put my body at risk for that," Marin said in a video posted on social media.

"Deep down, I did retire on court, in Paris in 2024. We just didn't know it at the time."

Marin won the World Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2018, with the last one a repeat of her 2016 Olympics final with Sindhu. Marin was ruthless in the final, winning 21-6, 21-11.

Two years ago in Rio, the duo had played a thrilling Olympic gold medal match, which Marin won 19-21, 21-12, 21-15. That win made her the first non-Asian to win an Olympic gold medal in women's singles.

Marin and Sindhu, who is just a year younger, had a healthy rivalry that went on for nearly a decade. Marin enjoyed the upper hand with 12 wins against six, with the latest coming in the Singapore Open in 2024, which the Spaniard won.