Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo’s step to retire from badminton following Marcus Fernaldi Gideon marked the end of the phenomenal men’s doubles story nicknamed Minions.
Through a statement on his social media, Thursday (16/5/2024), Kevin Sanjaya confirmed his retirement from badminton. Kevin admitted that he had decided this since last February.
“My time in the world of badminton has ended here. I have thought hard, discussed with the people closest to me and considered many things to get me to this point.”
“I decided at the end of February to quit badminton. Finally, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo said goodbye. Please pray for me, Valen and Avery for our next journey,” wrote Kevin.
The news of Kevin retiring came two months after Marcus Gideon first declared his retirement. Marcus announced his decision to retire on March 9.
“Thank You God for these 33 years! Today, at the age of 33, I decided to quit my professional badminton career,” wrote Marcus when announcing his retirement.
The retirement of Kevin and Marcus means that Indonesia has lost the best men’s doubles team ever owned by Garuda Team. The men’s doubles, also known as the Minions, was ranked number one in the world for 214 weeks from March 2017 to September 2022.
Kevin/Marcus won many prestigious titles. Apart from winning two All England titles in 2017 and 2018, the Minions also won the Asian Games title and a total of five BWF Super Series 1000 titles.
Despite achieving a lot of success with Marcus, Kevin mentioned two titles that the Minions were unfortunately unable to win, namely the Olympics and the World Championship.
“I am very grateful for all the achievements of Marcus Gideon and I to date, even though we have not managed to get an Olympic and World Championship medal,” wrote Kevin.
Once expected to win a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kevin/Marcus were only able to advance to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile at the World Championship, the Minions reached the quarter-finals in 2017 and 2018.
Image source: okezone.com
