Tokyo: Japan’s World No. 14 women’s singles player Sayaka Takahashi recently announced on her Instagram that she is retiring from the Japanese national badminton team.
Takahashi said in her retirement announcement that she had been struggling due to injuries and it’s probably time for her to start thinking about her next adventure.
“Thank you for always supporting me. I apologize for the delay in announcing this to you all, but I have decided to retire from the Japanese national team. Since last year, I’ve been struggling with injuries. After the Japan Open, I felt that I had done my best. So, after consulting with the team, I decided to withdraw from the Japanese national team. I look forward to continuing to support the team in the future. Meanwhile, I am working hard towards the next step of my life, so please continue to support me.”
The 30-year-old Sayaka Takahashi’s older sister, Ayaka Takahashi, is also a famous badminton player. Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo created history for Japanese badminton when they won Japan’s first-ever badminton gold medal in the women’s doubles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition, both Takahashi sisters spearheaded the Japanese team to winning the 2018 Uber Cup title, Japan’s first Uber Cup since they last won the prestigious female team championships title in 1981.
Ayaka Takahashi announced her retirement from badminton in August 2020. She then married Yuki Kaneko in Jan 2021.
