I was having a discussion with a few friends at my club last night about which pros are likely to retire after Rio 2016. So far we have the following, but was wondering if any other players are looking/rumouored to call it a day after Rio? Lin Dan Lee Chong Wei Lee Yong Dae Yoo Yong Seong Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen Lee Hyun Il
Fu Haifeng and Hendra Setiawan will propably quit as well. I feel Lee Yong Dae might play on until Tokyo since he is pretty injury free. The people that will definitley quit are Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. Those four are all well over 30 but they might play on until their home/favourite event.
In that list, all due to advancing age. Except for LYD and YYS. YYS because of LYD as his partner. LYD because he has mentioned before in an interview that he's perhaps losing the passion and feeling he's missing out on life due to the crazy time commitment in training and competition. He may switch to TV entertainment instead... which will be much more potentially lucrative.
After Rio, Lin Dan will probably be in semi retirement, like only a few tournaments a year. Yonex expects him to do at least that much.
Wouldn't be surprised if Tien Minh Nguyen hangs it up. He's already starting to play less tournaments. Fischer Nielsen is already 37 years of age and still playing :O
Lee Chong Wei: will retire without or without a gold medal. If he won gold back in 2012 I think it's safe to say he would have been retired by now. Lin Dan: His press conference at the start of the year with Yonex really gave me the vibe that'll he'll keep playing for a bit after the Olympics. LYD & YYS: LYD will most likley retire as Korean players tend to stop playing round 30 years (except LHI ) He's also showed a lack of passion as stated in a recent interview. YYS will most likely play for a bit afterwards as well could be interesting to see who he is partnered up with. MB & CM: Will retire no doubt. Fu Hai Feng: I don't think he'll quit right after the Olympics. I think he'll become what the Chinese team is doing with Cai Yun and they'll keep pairing him up with Junior players to boost their confidence and skill. Cai Yun: could be done before the Olympics even beginning LHI: will retire, I don't think he's even going to the Olympics tbh. Overall I honestly am not looking forward to the Olympics. I really started getting into the international Badminton scene like 2.5 years ago and these players that I listed above I really love watching. I'll be really sad when they all start to retire.
I think LCW will stay on if he doesn't get gold. He is old but still better than most other younger players and hardly any sign of slowing down. maybe he will shoot for 2020! afterall there is nobody from Malaysia who is even close to his level at the moment.
I do not think Lee Yong Dae will retire. He is only 26. Maybe it will be his last Olympics, but I think Korea will still want him around for a while.
Even if his country wants and needs him to continue on, his body may not be able to...especially against a bunch of promising young players like Momota, Axelsen etc. Don't forget this is singles we're talking about, which is more physically punishing than doubles. It'll be tough for him to play at the highest level injury free. Unless he picks only the big occasions to play... like LD. Also now that he's solidly a family man with 2 boys, it'll be mentally challenging to continue doing what he's been doing for the past decade, when he can comfortably retire, expand his businesses and be with the family.
I agree with most on here, everyone has to retire one day and I think LCW will retire IMO if he does win Gold (However for some reason I think Jorgensen or Chen Long will be in the finals, I dunno, just a hunch). Lin Dan needs to get much sharper, he is rusty. A great player but many younger more hungry players that always want to beat him and more doing so recently. I hope he can prove me wrong and do well as I don't think he will play much longer after that. He has achieved everything, a great position to be in. I'm just happy I got to see them all live playing, a truly inspiring spectacle to watch. There are really nice promising youngsters coming through, hopefully the next generation will be strong too in years to come. Kindest regards, -Ajay- Quote of the Day A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.
it is a forgone conclusion that if LCW wins Rio, he will retire and retire very rich. afterall Najib has $750mil hidden somewhere just a little piece of which will be enough for LCW. however, in the case that he doesn't, i still think he will continue. he has been holding up well and don't have much more injury than even much younger players and he still plays like he was 25. if he cut down the number of tournaments (he is already pretty rich and he lost the world #1 anyway so not much reason to try to keep the bonuses) he will last much longer.
I was always thinking LCW could retire from MS after Rio and play XD until Tokyo, he only needs a good partner and some more doubles training.
Pretty sure he'd be torn apart on the MX field. It's not like a few decades ago when you could still mix singles and doubles disciplines.
