Zheng Siwei Hangs Up Racket At The Age Of 27

JAKARTA China's mixed doubles specialist Zheng Siwei announced his retirement from the sport he was involved in at a young age, 27.

The decision was announced by Zheng Siwei through his Instagram social media account on Friday, November 29, 2024, morning Indonesian time.

Zheng Siwei will appear on the field for the last time in the 2024 BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou next month, the city where his brilliant career began.

"I have officially decided to leave the international stage. I can imagine my fans might think this news is sudden and somewhat unreasonable," Zheng wrote.

The decision to hang up this racket is indeed quite surprising to the badminton world. The reason is, at this age Zheng should still have a long career journey.

Currently Zheng and his partner Huang Yaqiong are still in third place in the world. They are still globally a competitive couple who can compete in big events.

Zheng, who managed to become a three-time world champion with Yaqiong, explained that he made this decision because he wanted to balance careers and families.

"If I continue to compete on the pitch then I will definitely spend more time away from the people I love."

"My wife and I have been together for 12 years, but our real life only started after the 2024 Paris Olympics," he said.

Zheng was recorded as joining China's national badminton team in November 2013. It has only taken him two years since to win six gold medals at the Junior Championships.

He then switched to mixed doubles competition and paired with Chen Qingchen. The pair won a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in Glasgow.

After that, Zheng was paired with Huang Yaqiong. Both also won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is the highest peak in an athlete's career.