Singapore: 27-year-old Derek Wong of Singapore is hanging up his racket at the end of September.
The Singapore’s top men’s singles shuttler told reporters that he had turned in his resignation letter to the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) after the Rio Olympics. After his resignation, he will be joining the consulting firm Deloitte on Sept 26.
Derek who was also the flag-bearer for Singapore at the Rio Olympics admitted it was a tough decision as he has been playing badminton for 20 years and has become a professional badminton player since eight years ago.
“I just have to do it, furthermore, it’s the appropriate time to give our young players more exposures in higher level tournaments,” said Wong.
“However, I won’t be completely detach from badminton. I will be studying part-time for my chartered accountant qualification, while coaching badminton on weekends.”
Currently ranked World No. 55, the 27-year-old was also a Commonwealth Games silver medalist and has, for years, been the face of men’s badminton in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Wong’s wife Vanessa Neo, who was also a prominent doubles player in Singapore, has decided to retire from badminton after two unsuccessful campaigns to qualify for the Olympics. Neo has played the sport full-time for 12 years,
The 29-year-old Vanessa Neo together with Danny Bawa Chrisnanta, were ranked among the world’s top 10 mixed doubles pairs in 2013.
