Mumbai: Mathias Boe, Indian men’s badminton doubles coach, announced his decision to call it quits on Saturday.
The 44-year-old decorated Danish coach and former player guided crack Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to the top of world men’s doubles rankings.
Asian Games gold-medallists Saiwik and Chirag were expected to win an Olympic medal in Paris, but lost in the quarterfinals to Malaysians Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik two days ago.
Boe, married to Indian actress Taapsee Pannu, took to Instagram to pen a heartfelt note.
“For me, my coaching days end here. I’m not going to continue in India or anywhere else, for now at least. I have spent too much time in a badminton hall and it’s also pretty stressful to be a coach, I’m a tired old man,” wrote Boe, a Thomas Cup winner and London Olympics silver-medallist.
Shedding light on the hard work that Satwik and Chirag put in before the Olympic Games, Boe tried to lift the spirits of the champion duo.
“I know the feeling all too well myself. Pushing yourself to the limit every day, to be in the best shape of your life, and then things don’t go as you would have hoped for. I know you guys are gutted. I know how much you wanted to bring a medal back to India, but this time it wasn’t meant to be. But you have everything to be proud of, how hard you have worked in this Olympics camp, battling injuries, even taken injections to reduce the pain, that is dedication, that is passion and that is a lot of Heart. You have won so much over the past years and you are going to win so much more in the future,” Boe added.
Taapsee married Boe in a private and low-key ceremony in Udaipur in March after having dated for nearly a decade.
Taapsee, who was last seen in ‘Dunki’ alongside Shah Rukh Khan, revealed recently that she and Boe had been engaged 9 years ago.
