Olympics Women's Doubles Gold Medalist Ayaka Takahashi retires due to lack of fire

Image: Ayaka Takahashi

JAPAN: Ayaka Takahashi said Wednesday that she lacks the fire to try and defend her Olympic women’s doubles championship at next summer’s Tokyo Olympics and will retire at the end of this month.

Olympic champion Ayaka Takahashi, who along with Misaki Matsutomo heralded a golden period for Japan in women’s doubles, announced her retirement today.

Takahashi, 30, and her 28-year-old partner Misaki Matsutomo became Japan's first Olympic gold medalists in badminton when they overcame Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark in Brazil, scoring five straight points from 19-16 down in the final game for a dramatic comeback win.

While the vast majority of Olympic hopefuls are continuing on for the Tokyo Games, which have been postponed until 2021, Takahashi, a gold medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, decided that she will not.

“I had doubts about my mind and body getting through another year,” Takahashi said in an online news conference where she was joined by her playing partner Misaki Matsutomo.

Takahashi will be most remembered for winning the Olympic gold in Rio 2016, but she also had numerous other accomplishments to her credit. These included the Uber Cup triumph in 2018, a World Championships bronze, two Badminton Asia Championships crowns, and an All England title.

At a press conference conducted by her employer Nihon Unisys, Takahashi said she decided to retire as she could not keep her motivation high for another year, until the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

They were facing an uphill battle in the race for the Tokyo Games, however, after finding themselves third in the domestic standings with Japan given up to two slots for the event. The qualifying race that started in April last year was suspended this March following the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The pair, affectionately known as "Taka-Matsu" from their surnames, were also the first Japanese players to rank first in the Badminton World Federation's world rankings under the current format in October 2014.

Takahashi also captained Japan to its first title at the women's World Team Championships, or the Uber Cup, in 37 years in 2018.

Image: Ayaka takahashi and Partner Matsutomo

Her partner Matsutomo, who will continue to play mixed doubles with current partner Yuki Kaneko, paid rich tribute to Takahashi.

“I’m sure I couldn’t have achieved such good results without her, including the gold medal at Rio. I thank her so much, much more than words can express,” said Matsutomo.