24-year-old Shlok Ramachandran Takes Indefinite Sabbatical from Professional Badminton

New Delhi: India's doubles player Shlok Ramachandran is stepping away from professional badminton for an indefinite period of time, the youngster announced on Wednesday on social media.

Shlok has won one and finished runners-up in three BWF International Challenge and International Series events between 2014 and 2019 while he has won five BWF Future Series from 2015 to 2019.

Shlok is only 24 years old and announced that he is stepping away in order to "pursue other dreams and aspirations."

"I have decided to take an indefinite sabbatical from professional badminton. After spending 7 years at the national centre, I think it's time to move on and pursue other dreams and aspirations.

"I stepped on to the court for the very first time when I was 8 and in the past 16 years it's given me so much more than I ever dreamed (sic) off, from being the part of the Maharashtra team for the first time in 2007 to being the part of the Thomas Cup team in 2018, it's been an incredible journey. This sport has given me friends and mentors as well as loads of memories which I would cherish for the rest of my life," Shlok wrote on Twitter.

"I would like to thank all the coaches and support staff at the Gopichand Academy for their constant support. I would also like to thank Uday Pawar sir and the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy for shaping me as a player in my junior days.

"I would also like to thank all of my doubles partner who teamed up with me in different phases of my career. Also a big thank you to Sanyam Shukla and Arjun MR as I played my best badminton with them," he added.

Thank you 🙏🏻!Can’t thank @GoSportsVoices enough for their constant support always ! pic.twitter.com/Va4WpkWal4

— Shlok Ramchandran (@shlokh95) February 12, 2020

Of all the nine results in the BWF International Challenge, Series and Future events, he has bagged seven with Arjun and two with Shukla. Arjun has also won the 2019 Ghana International and finished second in 2019 Lagos International in mixed doubles with Rutuparna Panda.

"Finally, a big big thank you to my parents and my extended family for everything. I will still be associated with the sport in some form in the near future. Looking forward to what life has in store for me in this new chapter," Shlok ended his note.