Hong Kong squash star Annie Au retires at 31 after glittering career
- World No 11 ends career after reaching No 6 in 2012 and winning 17 world tour titles
- The 31-year-old retires after being part of Hong Kong women’s team that won gold at 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta
Hong Kong women’s squash number one Annie Au Wing-chi announced her retirement after a glittering professional career of over a decade.
The world number 11 revealed the surprising decision on the Professional Squash Association’s official website, saying it is time to move on since turning professional in 2004.
“I’ve enjoyed playing on the tour for the last 10 years as a full-time athlete,” said the 31-year-old, who played her last match in Chicago three weeks ago. “To retire from squash is a tough decision, but I think it is time for me to have a change of life since the career of an athlete will end one day.
“I think the 2018/19 season was the best for me. I met some of the targets that I had set for myself a long time ago. The first ever Asian Games gold medal for myself, I was a quarter-finalist at the World Championship in Chicago and won my biggest PSA Tour title at the Macau Open.
“All of that was so meaningful to me. Last but not least, to have a career-high of world number six and to have made history for Hong Kong squash is my greatest achievement.”
Au is the most successful Hong Kong player of all time, becoming the first player to reach the world’s top 10 in May 2011. She reached her career-high ranking one year later and won 17 PSA titles from 27 finals. Her most recent title came on home soil at the HKFC PSA International Squash Open in September, five months after her biggest title win at the 2019 Macau Open, a World Tour bronze tournament.
