Former World No 9 Laurens Jan Anjema Announces Retirement by Sean Reuthe June 28, 2016
- Former World No.9 Laurens Jan Anjema has announced his retirement
from professional squash after a glittering 15-year career that saw him
become the highest ranked Dutchman of all time.
The 33-year-old, who hails from Den Haag, Netherlands, was a prolific
member of the PSA World Tour, and lifted 12 titles from 32 finals,
winning 272 of 447 matches over 182 tournaments.
Anjema made history in his native country in March 2007 when he
overtook compatriot Tommy Berden to become the highest ranked Dutchman
ever, and broke into the world’s top ten for the first time in December
2010, in addition to claiming nine successive Dutch Nationals titles
between 2006-2014 before adding a 10th in February of this year.
An ankle-injury, sustained towards the end of 2014, looked to have
brought an early end to the career of one of the most entertaining
players on the PSA World Tour, but a period of rehabilitation saw him
return to the Tour in early 2015.
Anjema, whose last appearance on the PSA World Tour saw him reach the
semi-final of the GillenMarkets Irish Squash Open, has joined his
sponsor, Hero Business Solutions, on an internship specialising in IT
mediation.
"There's a fine line between heroically trying to achieve something or
repeatedly banging your head against a wall," said Anjema.
"During last season I've experienced the latter too much. As an athlete
I need to be honest with myself and recognise when a comeback is no
longer realistic.
"I’ve had a fantastic career, I’ve gotten to know what it feels like to
perform at your absolute best. Those moments were rare. On the one hand
it's quite magical, but on the other hand, when you're in that moment,
it feels like the most normal thing in the world.
"I'm forever thankful to my former coach and mentor, Neil Harvey, who
has been a major influence not only on my career, but also on me as a
person."
Speaking about the moment he reached the world’s top ten, Anjema added:
"After a brutal but very fine-tuned summer's training, I put together a
solid string of results, which got me to World No.9.
"It felt like an amazing achievement, and it was, but the lifestyle I had to obey to was quite extreme."
