Bankier latest to hang up racquet

Scotland’s Imogen Bankier is the latest former top ten player to put an end to her international playing career.  Badminton Scotland reported this week that Bankier, who achieved international success twice at home last year, winning the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games and then winning the Scottish Open Grand Prix title, both with Robert Blair, has decided to retire at age 28 after contemplating the decision for nearly a year.

“I’ve got to the stage in my career when I’ve achieved many of the goals that I set out to achieve when I was 10 years old and decided I wanted to go down the path of playing badminton,” Bankier said.

“I was professional for over 10-11 years. It is a long time when you are living it and I achieved so much early on and I feel like I’ve got to the stage where there’s nothing left that is really driving me forward.”

Bankier was ranked as high as 10th in the world after she and England’s Chris Adcock reached the final of the 2011 BWF World Championships.  Coincidentally, she is the second of Adcock’s former partners to retire this month, as Andrew Ellis also called it quits earlier in December.

Click here to read the full report from Badminton Scotland’s website