By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.
CHOOSE YOUR LANGUAGE
CHOOSE YOUR LANGUAGE
互联网新闻信息许可证10120180008
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
File photo of Zheng Siwei. /CFP
China's Olympic mixed doubles badminton gold medalist Zheng Siwei announced that he will retire from international competition on Friday. Next month's BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou will be his "last dance".
"Many people expected me to play at least until the Los Angeles Olympics, or even longer. If there were any questions about our competitiveness, we just won the Olympic gold and rank among the top in the world rankings. As for why I suddenly want to stop playing, my answer is, this is my life plan," the 27-year-old wrote on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Zheng Siwei (L) and Huang Yaqiong celebrate winning mixed doubles gold at the Paris Olympics in Paris, France, August 2, 2024. /CFP
Zheng mentioned returning to his family as one of the most important reasons for his decision: "My life goals are now focussed on my family and career. Everyone knows that I married relatively early, and now I've just had a second baby, so I want to return to the family."
After claiming silver at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, Zheng and his partner Huang Yaqiong won mixed doubles gold at the Paris Olympics, finishing the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record, and not losing a single set.
"Along the way, we constantly made breakthroughs and broke records. We faced challenges and doubts, but we never stopped and we finally won a Grand Slam," wrote Zheng.
Zheng added that he chose the BWF World Tour Finals as his farewell event because the host city of Hangzhou is where his professional career began.
The season-ending BWF World Tour tournament will be held from December 11 to 15.