Cai Yun officially retired from badminton

Cai Yun, 36, formally confirmed his retirement from competitive badminton on his personal Weibo (similar to Facebook and Twitter in China) yesterday.

Cai, who was born in 1980, joined the Chinese national badminton team in 1999. Throughout his 19 years spent at the China national team, Cai Yun managed to blossom into a men's doubles superstar together with Fu Haifeng.

Cai Yun is right handed while Fu Haifeng is left handed. Cai is also a very speedy player and reads the game very well at the front of the court; while Fu is a power smasher. Together, they were able to play solid defense as left and right handed pair and became one of the most formidable men's doubles pairings in the world.
Together, they have won four World titles (2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011), an Olympic gold medal (2008), two All-England titles (2005, 2009), led China to five straight Thomas Cup title since 2004, and 5 Sudirman Cup titles (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013).
However, their 12-year partnership came to an end on March 2014 after they had experienced a series of subpar performances post London Olympics.
Cai was then assigned to partner Lu Kai, in which they won the 2014 Singapore Open and the 2015 Swiss Open.
"My 19 years careers in the national team has finally come to an end. I still remember the excitement of the first day I took the train and arrived in Beijing on April 28, 1999. I feel very calm right now, and I am looking forward to the new challenges ahead of me," wrote Cai Yun on his Weibo.
Cai will start his new career as a commentator, and hopefully could continue to promote the sport of badminton through his new role.