Annie Au hangs up her racket

Annie Au retires

Hong Kong’s highest-ever ranked Squash Player Annie Au has announced her retirement at the age of 31.

In 2011 Annie became the first Hong Kong player to reach the world’s top ten, reaching a high of #6 in 2012 and spending the last 6 years inside the top 13.

Annie played 384 matches on the PSA Tour in 157 events, claiming 17 titles from 27 finals, with her final match coming against Amanda Sobhy at the Windy City Open.

Annie also won gold in the team event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, while she also won silver medals in both the individual and team events at the 2010 Asian Games, in addition to two bronze medals in 2014.

She also helped Hong Kong to a bronze medal at both the 2016 and 2018 WSF Women’s World Teams.

Her nemesis on the Asian scene was Nicol David, suffering 24 defeats in a row before famously breaking the sequence in the 2017 US Open (watch the replay at the bottom of the page).

On home soil Annie appeared in 13 consecutive Hong Kong Opens, from 2006 to 2018, reaching the semi-finals in 2011 and 2013. She won the HKFC International three times in the last five years.

I’ve enjoyed playing on the tour for the last 10 years as an full-time athlete. and 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.

Both the women’s tour and women’s squash definitely are growing compared to the time when I started. In terms of prize money, we can see a big increase. In some events it is even equal with the men’s.

It is a very good sign and as a player, I can feel that more people are enjoying women’s squash and that rewards the effort that every player together puts in.

I think the 2018/2019 season was the best for me. I met some of the targets that I had set for myself a long time ago. I won the first ever Asian Games gold medal for myself, I was 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 No.6 and to have made history for Hong Kong squash is my greatest achievement.

It is still a question for me [about what lies next after squash] but I think after taking some rest and exploration, I will find the answer quickly and tell everyone. Wish me good luck!

Annie Au Photo Gallery