Badminton star Ayaka Takahashi, a women's doubles gold medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, is intent on retiring, multiple sources close to her told Kyodo News on Monday.Takahashi, 30, and her 28-year-old partner Misaki Matsutomo became Japan's first Olympic gold medalists in badminton when they overcame Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark in Brazil, scoring five straight points from 19-16 down in the final game for a dramatic comeback win.They were facing an uphill battle in the race for the Tokyo Games, however, after finding themselves third in the domestic s…READ FULL ARTICLE
