[Saba Sports News] Once a player who climbed as high as fifth in the world rankings, this athlete did not secure a public sector establishment after retirement, nor did she head for the bustling metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Instead, she chose to spend the next chapter of her life in Ningbo, Zhejiang — the hometown of her husband, current elite badminton champion Wang Chang.
Back in March this year, Wang Chang’s wife Qian Tianyi announced her retirement. She opted not for institutional job placement, but for the independent career pathway, receiving a one-off retirement compensation of around 100,000 euros. For a 26-year-old who has just concluded her competitive athletic career, the sum serves as a meaningful transition: it rewards over a decade of hard work and also marks the starting point of a brand-new life journey. Wang Chang is a true native of Ningbo. He was selected into the Chinese National Badminton Team at the age of 17, claimed the men’s doubles title at the National Games in 2021, and later won a men’s doubles silver medal with his partner at the 2024 Paris Olympics. As an active national team player still in his prime, Wang Chang spends nearly the entire year either in closed training camps or traveling around the world for tournaments. This leaves him with barely fewer than five chances a year to accompany his mother.
To take care of her mother-in-law on her husband’s behalf, Qian Tianyi chose not to open her training center in more glamorous big cities, nor did she pursue a commercial layout driven by online traffic. Instead, she firmly settled her brand Tianyi Table Tennis right in the city where her parents-in-law reside. For this reason, fans hail Qian Tianyi as the gold-standard daughter-in-law.
In the editor’s opinion, Qian Tianyi’s decision has been widely praised as a heartfelt interpretation of love — turning the words “I love you” into actions by taking good care of your family in your place. She has broken the public stereotype that young retired athletes only seek an easy life or rely on their spouses’ fame, and set a fine example of an independent, clear-minded and responsible modern woman.