The manner in which Carolina Marin was moving around the badminton court between points against Tai Tzu Ying on Sunday prompted the legendary Morten Frost to compare her to a boxer spoiling for a fight. She would sometimes talk to herself before the start of a point and many guess that she even uses these pep talks to sometimes psyche herself up when under pressure. Then, there are those in your face celebrations and the constant shrieks that a few badminton fans have problems with as the 26-year-old Spaniard sometimes comes across as overly aggressive.

But no one — absolutely no one — could doubt her appetite for success whatever the situation might be.

And Marin once again showcased that killer instinct when she successfully defended her China Open Super 1000 title in Changzhou in what was only her second tournament since returning from a career-threatening knee injury she suffered during the Indonesia Masters in January this year.

Speak to any badminton player and they will talk about the difficulty of finding their rhythm and feeling confident with their movement after a serious leg injury. And things get all the more complicated with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear as the knee takes the most pounding during pivoting and lunging in a badminton match.

Not many players in the past have managed to successfully make a comeback from an ACL injury with even the likes of former Olympics champion Li Xuerui still struggling to reach the same level of performance in over a year; her compatriot and former world champion Yihan Wang preferred to instead hang her racquet after a few failures.

Even ardent Marin fans would have been understandably skeptical about her ability to find her feet in the highly competitive women’s singles category with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just under a year away. And when she pulled out of the World Championship in Basel this year, after initially accepting the invitation, the doubts would have only multiplied.

Her return at the Vietnam Open (a Super 100 event), seven months after the injury, ended in a straight games loss against Thailand’s Supanida Katethong but Marin had done enough to show that she wasn’t going to be conservative with her movements in the initial few matches.

The only question was how rusty would she be after being out of competition for so long.

She quelled all those doubts with a straight games win over world championships silver medallist Nozomi Okuhara in the first round and played three matches which lasted almost an hour or more to clinch the prestigious title in China.

While a lot of credit needs to go to Marin’s support system that not only worked on her recovery and strengthening to get her back to her best so quickly, none of this was possible without the 26-year-old’s determination and single-mindedness.

The three-time world champion got operated within 48 hours of returning to Spain and though she would not have been allowed to move without crutches for over a month, she was back on court within a week sitting on a chair with her leg raised and practising her strokes.

There was no indication if the injury frustrated her or raised doubts in her mind as Marin instead focused on what she could do to keep herself sharp and ready during that period and kept her spirits high by spending quality time with the family and updating her fans through social media.

But none of that could have prepared her for the time she actually stepped out to play in a competitive match against the world’s best shuttlers. And this is where Marin stood out. She did not take it one step at a time. Instead, she simply raced in, maintaining the same tempo that has made her one of the most dangerous players on the international circuit.

There was no tentativeness in her movement and even after playing some really tough matches through the week, the 26-year-old managed to outpace Tai Tzu Ying in longer rallies and force her opponent into making mistakes.

Tai Tzu Ying admitted as much in the post-match reaction when analysing Marin’s performance she said, “I think there’s not much difference, she is still very fast. I also feel that she is more skillful now. I also noticed that she maintained her speed in every match. She is much better at the net and has more variety of shots.”

Last year during a media interaction in Mumbai, Marin had spoken about how she was keen on emulating Lin Dan by winning at least five world titles and two back-to-back Olympics gold medals to become the “best player in the history of badminton.”

Mind you Marin comes from a country that has no badminton legacy. But that did not deter her from dreaming big and under the guidance of her coach Fernando Rivas, she created her own system to win three world championships and the Rio Olympics gold and is already assured a spot in badminton’s Hall of Fame.

But then Marin is built from a special mould with a spirit of a conqueror that isn’t easily satisfied and every obstacle only makes her more determined and hungrier for further success.

Adversity, it might be said, only brings out the best in her.

And the badminton world might just have joined the commentator is saying: “Welcome back to the world stage, Carolina Marin.”