Due to the injury of Carolina Marin, Clara Azurmendi will be playing against some of the strongest opponents in the World.

All badminton fans know that European super star, Carolina Marin, did not participate in the Tokyo Olympics due to an injury, which forced the three-time World Champion and 2016 Olympics gold medallist to take a long break.

Marin is still not fully recovered from the injury, which means that the Spanish Uber Cup team has travelled to Aarhus, Denmark, without the European Queen of badminton.

“Will make them run”
23-year-old Clara Azurmendi is the highest ranked player on the Spanish roster, and she is ready to put up a good fight against top players such as Saina Nehwal and Kirsty Gilmour in the group stage.

- Without Carolina, I am one of the oldest in the team. I will try to motivate the young girls and enjoy.

- I want to play these matches (against Nehwal and Gilmour). I know it will be hard matches, which I can lose, but I want to play and fight. If I can make them run more, it would be good. I am ready to challenge them, Clara Azurmendi said.

Want to beat Scotland
Spain will be playing India, Scotland and Thailand in the group stage, and the Spanish team is hoping to claim at least one victory during the three ties.

- We know it is a difficult group, but we have a young team and we are really motivated. We will try to do our best, and our team is to beat Scotland, but it is a difficult match, Azurmendi stated.

- I think we will try our singles. It will be difficult because they have Kirsty. In the doubles, we might also try to play me and Beatriz (Corrales).

Thomas & Uber Cup kicks off on Saturday, and Badminton Europe will be on site for the full event. Don’t miss on any of the action and keep up to date with the latest updates, photos, and more exclusive content on our website, Facebook and Instagram.