Jan O Jorgensen has decided to quit the Danish national badminton team. After 12 years at the National Elite Training Centre, Jorgensen’s last training session with the national team will be on Wednesday, 24 June.
Jorgensen, 32 has not completely retired yet and will continue to train at Vendsyssel Elite Badminton club in Skagen, Denmark. Dropping out of the national team, however, means that Jorgensen will not be able to play for his country in the Thomas and Uber Cups 2020 in Aarhus, Denmark. He plans to retire after a final appearance in Denmark Open 2020 in front of a home crowd.
Through Badminton Denmark’s official site, Jorgensen said, “I have been fighting to get back to the level I was before the injuries. A lot has happened in the men’s singles category since 2017 and the game has developed and my motivation and eagerness have been low lately.”
Since December 2016, the once world no. 2 has been plagued with injuries. After painstakingly recovering from his heel injury, he has now been struggling to overcome his hip injury.
“I cannot be honest with myself when I cannot compete among the best players in the big tournaments. That is what I play for. This decision is not made out of the blue. When I had my heel injury, I had these thoughts, so it’s been a process in recent years. It hurts every day, and now I cannot stand that anymore,” said Jorgensen.
Jorgensen played only three tournaments in 2017 and has produced mediocre results since. His last title was the 2016 Thaihot China Open and his last appearance in a tournament final was at the Yonex Swiss Open 2018.
Jorgensen is the first and only European men’s singles player to win the China Open (2016) and the Indonesia Open (2014). He also won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships and was a part of Danish squad that won the 2016 Thomas Cup; Denmark became the first European country to win the Thomas Cup in doing so.
Jorgensen’s wife is a professional handball player and a former captain of the Danish national team. He and his wife will move to Germany where she will play for SG BBM Bietigheim club from next season.