NOS Sport•today, 05:33
Badminton player Tabling continues without a permanent partner Piek: ‘It hurt’
Badminton players Robin Tabling and Selena Piek have managed to reach the final of the Dutch Open, their last trick in mixed doubles. “Although Robin’s choice to continue without me was a shock to me,” says Piek.
Tabling announced in June that he would retire as a top athlete. But he later changed his mind when a new opportunity arose. He will play doubles with the Danish Alexandra Bøje. Piek had also opted for a top sports pension shortly after Tabeling’s decision to quit. “For me it was: either continue with Robin, or not,” she said earlier.
She will discuss this in more detail at the Dutch Open. “It really bothered me. We had a conversation in which we discussed how we would end our period together. Fortunately, participation in this tournament was not up for discussion for Robin. That was not too bad.”
Yet it remained a hard blow for Piek after more than five years of playing together. “It hurt for a while and it took a while before I could talk about it properly.”
It was therefore also a strange period for Tabing. “I tried to explain to Selena that there is a world of difference between badminton in Denmark and the Netherlands and that I get a lot of freedom there. Just like financial help.”
It was precisely because of the lack of freedom that Tabing decided to stop. He was away from home sometimes for forty weeks a year and missed his girlfriend. “At first my reaction to the Danes was: no. Then I started thinking about the offer and discussing it with my girlfriend. In the end we did it anyway.”
Tabulating is a temporary solution for Bøje. Her regular partner Mathias Christiansen has been suspended for a year after errors were found in his whereabouts.
Today Tabling and Piek play with each other one more time. In the final of the Dutch Open they hope to end their career in mixed doubles with a title.
