Rajiv Ouseph: Former European champion to retire but wants more British Asians at Tokyo 2020
- Published
Rajiv Ouseph won two bronze medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast
Former European badminton champion Rajiv Ouseph wants to see more British Asian athletes at Tokyo 2020 after ruling himself out of a third Olympics.
Ouseph will retire after next month's World Championships having won five Commonwealth medals with England.
And in 2016 the 32-year-old became the first GB male singles player to reach the Olympic quarter-finals.
"In Rio I think I was the only British Asian athlete and I would like that to change," he told BBC Sport.
"Progress is being made, though, and young British Asians are competing and playing in more sports, with cricket a great example.
"Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are opening doors and you see the crowd's reaction when they go back home, it's insane.
"If I've helped a little bit and opened the doors for a few more badminton players then that's great, and something I wanted to achieve."
Ouseph has competed internationally for 14 years, with a total of 374 career wins, and cites his 2017 European final victory as his highlight.
He has been England's number one player since 2008 and the current English national champion is the only player in the event's 65-year history to win seven successive men's singles titles.
Away from the court, he became a father last year and that - as well as his age - are the two main factors behind his decision to stop competing only 12 months until the next Olympics.
"I can definitely look back on my career with a lot of pride," Ouseph added.
"I have a new son and my body is starting to get a bit more weary, but I want to put in one final push for the World Championships and see what I can do.
"I could have probably carried on and clung on for another Olympics but I don't think I would have done myself justice, and Toby [Penty] is coming through and deserves a chance."
After competing in next month's World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, Ouseph plans to take a break but hopes to return to badminton in a coaching or advisory capacity.