Jacco Arends from the Netherlands has announced that he has retired from being a professional badminton player with immediate effect.
Arends has come face to face with a big decision to make over recent weeks and deciding to quit immediately means any chance of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is now gone.
- After thinking and contemplating over the last weeks, I have decided to quit my professional badminton career. Ever since I was a young boy I have always set high goals for myself. But my ambition has always been insatiable and pushed me further and further, Arends said
The feeling has changed
Arends believes that he had lost belief in himself that he can continue playing at a high level as a professional badminton player, and that he had not had the chance.
- Over the last period, I have gradually lost my belief that I will be capable of and/or given the right opportunities to further develop my game.
- I believe it’s paramount to have the right conviction and perspective, which I simply do not see anymore, he added.
A new direction
Arends, despite changing to look at other areas of life, he still cannot stress enough his love for badminton, since he picked up the racket as a child.
- I have always promised myself that I will not hang around if I’m not able to improve my game any longer. Therefore, I’ve decided to quit and focus on new challenges, he said.
- It certainly hasn’t been an easy decision. All I know in my life is being a professional athlete in a sport I love and was – and still am – crazy passionate about, he insisted.
- I am happily working hard towards specific goals, day in day out. In a way, that made life easy. That’s now over and I suspect I will have a tough time adjusting to a new way of life, Arends continued.
Jacco Arends’ career achievements
European medals
2009 European Junior Gold Medalist – Milan (Mixed Doubles)
2009 European Junior Silver Medalist – Milan (Mixed Team)
2007 European Junior Silver Medalist – Völkingen (Mixed Team)
2016 European Bronze Medalist – La Roche-sur-Yon (Mixed Doubles)
2019 European Bronze Medalist – Copenhagen (Mixed Team)
Jacco Arends also competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio
BWF World Ranking
Highest ranking in Mixed Doubles: 13 (Selena Piek)
Highest ranking in Men's Doubles: 33 (Jelle Maas)
