Last year in the women’s singles final at the Indonesia Masters, Carolina Marin suffered a tragic injury. A tragedy every athlete fears. Marin’s right knee twisted when she was leading 9-3 in the first game.

A year later, in the first round match at the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters 2020 against Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol, Marin showed no sign of the tragedy that befell her twelve months ago.

In fact, she thrashed Jindapol in only 35 minutes 21-13 21-15.

“I’m just surprised with myself, because I wasn’t scared to be here again. One thing why I’m here is because I love to be here, I love Indonesia, they have so many fans here, they make me feel I’m at home. And they make me feel warm when I play on court. All my thoughts were about my strategy, on what I had to do against Nitchaon today,” Marin was quoted saying by BWF.

Her coach Fernando Rivas thinks Marin is ready to get back on top of the world.

Rivas:  “Yes, it is emotional, especially for her. It was more emotional at the Vietnam Open, it was hard to handle. But I think she’s ready.”

The left-handed Spaniard is a three-time world champion: 2014. 2015, 2018. She is the reigning Olympic champion.

Marin will face world championship silver medalist Nozomi Okuhara in the next round. The two players are tied at a 7-7 head to head record. Marin has won the last five encounters though.