24 March 2024
| THE HEARTBEAT OF WOMEN'S SPORT
Home   >   News   >   Badminton: England number one Jill Pittard retires

Badminton: England number one Jill Pittard retires

December 11, 2024

Jill Pittard, English national badminton singles champion, has announced her retirement after representing her country for 10 years.Currently ranked number one in England and 46 in the world, Pittard feels now is the time to bow out gracefully after finally winning the National Championships this year having lost in the final three times previously.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Related Stories:

Badminton: Clark and Kellogg miss out on title in Denmark

Badminton: Donna Kellogg calls time on her badminton career

……………………………………………………………………………………………

She said, “I am very happy with my achievements and have no regrets, especially having won the Nationals this year – the one title I really wanted but which had, until February 1st , eluded me.

“I feel that now is the right time to retire as I am not getting any younger and I have had a very good innings, which I am very proud of.

“I am currently No. 1 on the English rankings and the highest England player in women’s singles in the world rankings so it is good to finish at the top of my singles game.”

The Coventry based player has represented England 14 times, the first time in 1999 against China, and played in four Uber Cup teams and one Uber Cup final. Under her belt she also has two European Championships and two World Championships.

Individually her success continues having won the Iceland Open in 1998, Geneva International 2001, Slovenian Open 2003, Welsh Open 2007, the European Badminton Circuit in 2007 year and most recently, the Portuguese Open 2009

Already a calibration engineer at Land Rover, the 32 year old will not need to hunt for a job, She will however stay involved with badminton.

“I want to stay in badminton as I love the sport and I feel I have a lot to offer the youngsters so I do intend to do a bit of coaching in the Coventry area with some of the young, up-and-coming players.

“I also intend to continue playing county badminton until I reach 100 first-team caps – I am on 88.

“I would also like to take up golf more seriously, try skiing and play a few Racketlon competitions. I have already played one in October and I won it. I will continue to keep fit by going to the gym, which I enjoy, and basically lead a normal life, which will include watching the Sky Blues.”

Badminton England Chief Executive Adrian Christy paid tribute, saying: “Jill has been an outstanding athlete and finishes her career as a holder of a National title and I know how much she both wanted and deserved that. Everyone at Badminton England wishes Jill every success for the future.”

Erin Healey, Sportsister
The Women´s Sport Magazine

One Comment

  1. Pingback: Badminton: Clark and Olver form new doubles partnership - Sportsister - The Women's Sport Magazine | Sportsister

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Select a sport

Find out how to get started, training plans and expert advice.