Zheng Siwei Announces Retirement from International Badminton
Beijing: China’s 27-year-old badminton mixed doubles Olympics and Grand Slam champion Zheng Siwei has announced his retirement from international competitions on Friday. The upcoming BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou will mark the final performance of the Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong pairing.
Since teaming up in 2017, Zheng and Huang, quickly rose to become the most dominant mixed doubles pair in badminton history, clinching every major title on the international stage.
After narrowly missing out on gold at the Tokyo Olympics and settling for silver, Zheng and Huang finally achieved their dream by winning the gold medal at this year’s Paris Olympics, capturing all major badminton titles in the world.
Following the Paris Olympics, the pair temporarily applied to the BWF to freeze their World No. 1 ranking and have since been absent from international competitions.
With seemingly no further goals to pursue, Zheng Siwei announced his decision to officially retire from international play via his social media account.
Zheng wrote:
”
Retirement announcement
I know this will be a headline-worthy announcement: I’ve officially decided to step out of the international stage! I can imagine my fans might find this news both sudden and somewhat reasonable. After all, I’m only 27 years old, and many expected me to continue playing at least until Los Angeles or even longer. We just won the Olympic gold medal and are still among the top ranks globally. So, why stop now?
The answer is simple: this is always a part of my life plan. Regardless of whether I achieved my dream at Paris Olympics, I would make the same decision. There are many reasons behind this choice, and I’ll share them with you in detail. For this Olympic journey, I focused on making every aspect as perfect as possible, refining every detail to ensure I wouldn’t have any regrets in this final pursuit of my dream. As for the result, I had already come to terms with it before the journey began. But I’m incredibly fortunate to have achieved my dream finally.
I joined the national team in November 2013. In 2015, with six gold medals in junior championships, I transitioned to the senior circuit and shifted my focus to mixed doubles, marking the birth of the “Wei Cheng” partnership. After two years of fantastic performances, we claimed a silver at the 2017 World Championships and the National Games gold. Later, the team was reshuffled, and I was paired with Ya Qiong, which led to the debut of the “Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong”. And you know the rest of our story!!
Throughout this journey, we constantly challenged ourselves and broke records. We endured lows and faced doubts, but we never stopped! In the end, we achieved the Grand Slam! Of course, during these 11 years in the national team, I’ve been blessed with incredible mentors, supporters, staff, and teammates. We grew together, creating unforgettable memories that have left an indelible mark on my heart. These moments and the kindness I’ve received are things I will never forget-never! These acts of kindness will always stay with me, always stay with me, always stay with me! Important things are worth saying three times!
Today, however, I want to express my gratitude to my fans who have followed and supported me. I can imagine how you feel now. After following my matches for so many years, you might feel strange not seeing me on that familiar court-it’s something I’ll need to adapt to as well. Writing this now, my emotions are a complex mix. The thought of leaving the professional stage stirs deep feelings of reluctance and nostalgia.
What fills me with the most pride and fulfillment is reading your messages. Many
of you have shared that my performances on the court, my spirit, and the “Zheng energy” I radiate even just a little have impacted your lives, perhaps even changed your life’s trajectory in some way. That warms my heart profoundly. Just as I’ve felt your energy on the court, believe some influences are mutual, some energy are reciprocal, and some connections are simply meant to be.
I am truly grateful for your companionship. This isn’t goodbye-you’ll still see me. I’ll remain active in the badminton world, and we’ll continue to inspire each other throughout our lives. But I must apologize that I’ll step away from international competitions. I remember I might promise to play a few more matches next year-haha, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to break that promise. Let me explain why.
I’ve always been someone with a clear life plan. I know what I love, what I’m good at, where my goals lie, and the life I want to lead. In terms of my career, I’ve never been overly attached to it. Achieving more titles holds little appeal for me. On this journey, I’ve faced all kinds of challenges, and whether or not I reached the pinnacle, I can look back with no regrets. I’ve often told my friends: I don’t want my life to be solely defined as “World Champion” or “Olympic Champion Zheng Siwei.” These achievements are only the first half of my life journey—nothing
more.
Although I’m stepping away from the court, I’m not leaving badminton. I know my strengths, so don’t worry-you’ll still see me plenty of times! It might even be harder not to see me in the badminton world, haha! Of course, I’ll continue to learn, embrace the craftsman’s spirit, and stay dedicated to this field for life. At the same time, I’ll explore other areas, enrich my knowledge, and broaden my horizons.
A significant reason for stepping away from the international stage is my ultimate life goal: balancing career and family. As you know, I started my family quite early, and we’ve recently welcomed our second child. I want to focus on my family now. If I continue competing on the courts, I’ll inevitably spend more time away from my loved ones. My wife and I have been together for 12 years, but our true life together begins only after this Olympic cycle. So it is time to shift my focus. Achieving balance between career, family, and life is my ultimate pursuit.
Lastly, I hope you’ll understand and support my decision. The final international match for the Zheng-Huang will be the Hangzhou Finals. Hangzhou is where my professional journey began, so it feels right to take my final performance there. I’ll be waiting for you in Hangzhou! But this isn’t goodbye-my life will always be filled with “Zheng energy” and always on the way.”
Chinese version of Zheng Siwei’s retirement announcement:
”
退役官宣
我知道这又是一条会上热搜的官宣,因为我决定正式的退出国际赛场了!我想了解我的球迷们应该 会觉得这个消息既突然又似乎在情理之中。但大部分的球迷肯定会觉得是个重磅消息,毕竟从我的年龄 来看目前才 27 岁,许多人期待我应该起码打到洛杉矶甚至更久。从竞技能力来看我们才刚拿完奥运会冠 军且还排名世界前列,为什么突然就不打了。
那么我的答案是,这本就是我的人生规划。无论今年的巴黎奥运会上我有没有圆梦,我都会做出同样的决定。原因有很多方面,我会给大家一一道来。所以这一 次的奥运会,我尽可能在每一个环节都做到完美,每个细节做到精益求精,我只是不希望在最后一次追 逐梦想的机会上留下遗憾,至于结果,我在出发前就已经释怀了,但我很幸运,在这条道路上完成了自己的梦想。
从2013年11月进入国家队,2015年以亚青世青六冠的佳绩步入成年赛场,开始转型专攻混双,“围城”组合随之诞生。展现了极具冲击力表现的两年多后,在2017年夺得了世锦赛第二和全运会冠军。 随后队伍安排调整,以当时包揽世界排名第一和第二的我和雅琼,组成搭档,“雅思组合”横空出世。 后面的故事你们应该也很清楚了,至今!!!
这一路上,我们不断的突破自己,打破着记录;经历过低谷,遭受过质疑,但我们从没有停下!!! 最终,我们实现了大满贯!!!当然在国家队的这11年里,我得到了太多的贵人,恩师,保障人员和小 伙伴的帮助,我们也彼此成长刻骨铭心,这些片段我永远都不会忘记,这些恩情我永远都会放在心里! 这些恩情我永远都会放在心里!这些恩情我永远都会放在心里!重要的事情说三遍!!!
那么今天我主要是想和关注我,支持我的球迷多多表达我的感激。我可能可以感同身受到你们现在 的心情,追了我那么多年的比赛,突然在那片熟悉的赛场上看不到我了,肯定会不太适应,我自己也会。 现在在写小作文的时候心情也非常复杂,那种不舍得职业竞技赛场的心情也愈发强烈。这一路上最让我 自豪和有成就感的事情,除了为国争光,完成自己的理想,做了家人的榜样以外,就是每次在读到你们 的私信时候。你们会因为我在赛场上的一些表现,展现出来的精神,散发出来的“郑”能量,哪怕就只 有一点,哪怕只有一丝的“郑”能量传到了你们那,但真的改变了你们生活的一些轨迹,这会让我感到特别地温暖。
就像我在赛场上感受到你们的能量一样,我相信有些影响是相互的,有些能量场也是互相 吸引的,有些缘分也都是注定了的。真心感谢你们的陪伴,我们不说再见,你们还会一直见到我,我会 在你们的关注的羽毛球领域无处不在,我们会互相影响一辈子。只不过我要向大家抱歉的是,我要离开 国际赛场了,我记得我好像我答应过你们明年还会打几站,哈哈哈哈,对不起,我确实要食言了。。。 原因大概有几个方面吧。
我自己从来都是一个自我人生规划比较清晰的人,我也知道自己喜欢干什么,适合干什么,目标在 哪里,想要过什么样的生活。
对于职业道路,我并没有太多的执念,再多的成就对我并没有吸引力,在这条路上,我面对了所有的挑战,无论最后有没有拿到巅峰的成绩,以一个不后悔的姿态回看就够了, 我记得我对很多人都说过这么一句话:我从来都不希望我的一生被人定义为“世界冠军或奥运冠军郑思 维”,目前的成就只是我人生的前半段路程,而已!!!我虽然退出国际赛场但我不会离开羽毛球,我 知道我自己的强项在哪里,所以你们要小心咯,未来想不看到我才难,哈哈哈哈。当然,我会不断的学 习,匠人精神干了一辈子的垂直领域,我也会不断尝试丰富我的其他领域知识,充实我的生活层次。
那么还有一点我决定离开国际赛场的非常重要的原因就是,我的人生追求是家庭事业两不误,大概也知道 我成家比较早,现在也刚刚有了二宝,所以我想回归家庭了!!!大家都知道,我如果继续奋战在一线, 一定和家人是聚少离多,我和嘟嘟在一起12年, 真正的同居生活是在今年的奥运会之后。所以现在,我觉得是时候转移我的重心了,事业家庭生活得到平衡才是我的终极目标。
最后我也希望大家能够理解支持我的决定,雅思组合的最后一战国际赛事会是杭州总决赛,这是我专业道路“梦开始的城市”,所以也想在这里谢幕,我在杭州等你们!但我们不说再见,因为我的生活 会永远“充满能量”,且永远“郑在进行时””
Viktor Axelsen, Carolina Marin, and Pearly Tan all shared their best wishes for Zheng on his Instagram account.
