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India badminton star B Sumeeth Reddy announced retirement from the sport to emphasise on coaching role. Reddy, a member of the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medal-winning mixed team, owns three badminton coaching centres. Reddy formed the men’s double pair with Manu Attri and also played with his wife N Sikki Reddy, who became the recipient of the Arjuna Award in September 2018. Back in 2016, he recorded a notable achievement to his name after winning a gold medal in the 2016 Asian Games. After three years, he again won the gold in the 2019 edition of the Asian Games.
Sumeeth made his retirement announcement through a long note posted on Instagram with a brief caption. Taking to the social media site, the 33-year-old wrote, “RETIRED AND PROUD. Embracing the next chapter with gratitude and excitement. I thank my family, friends and well wishers for all the support."
Sumeeth also represented India at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games. He pulled off the 2015 Mexico City Grand Prix and 2016 Canada Open. He also concluded as runners-up at the US Open and Dutch Open in 2015. Allying with Ashwini Ponnappa, he finished in the second spot in the 2017 Syed Modi International.
Spinal bone degeneration problem forces Sumeeth to quit the sport
The major cause of Sumeeth’s exit from the sport is failures in recent years along with the spinal bone degeneration issue, which bound doctors to advise him to stop playing badminton. Had Reddy not followed medical professionals’ advice, he would’ve found himself in the peril of becoming a victim of lower-body paralysis in the future.
“Met the top doctors in the country, and the common advice that everyone gave is to stop professional sports and pursue an alternative career, as there was a concern of lower body paralysis. At this point, I was 20, left with no job and an uncertain body which needed wall support to walk. Due to the pain, my back would collapse while standing or walking. The solution was to bare the pain, continue with rehab and hope for the best. With Sir Gopi’s advice, I shifted to doubles,” revealed Sumeeth in the post on Instagram.
