Xie Xing Fang

Jayce September 6, 2024 1 0

Character Introduction

Xie Xingfang (谢杏芳) (8 September 1981 ), a native of Guangzhou, Guangdong, originally from Xinxing County, Guangdong, is a retired Chinese female badminton player. During her 11 years with the Chinese national badminton team, she won the world championship title eight times. She is married to her national team mate and number one men’s singles player Lin Dan.

In 1988, at the age of 7, Xie Xingfang enrolled in the Guangzhou Sports School and practised badminton with coach Tu Pengfang.

She made her debut in the Guangzhou badminton team at the age of 14 (1995) and was called up to the national youth team in November 1997, becoming a member of the second national team a year later.

In 1998, Xie represented the national team in the World Junior Badminton Championships, winning the women’s doubles title with Zhang Jiewen, also from Guangzhou.

In 1999, the national team sent Xie Xingfang, who was only 18 years old at the time, to play in the Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships for the purpose of training newcomers, which was her first time to play in an open tournament after joining the national team. In the final, she beat Ling Wan-ting of Hong Kong, China 2-0, winning her first open title.

In 2000, Xie Xingfang was promoted to the first national team, which also increased her opportunities to play outside the country; during the year, she facilitated the Asian Badminton Championships to win the women’s singles tournament.

In 2003, she lost in the finals of the Japan Open and the All England Open, and only managed to win the Indonesia Open. Due to her shallow experience and inconsistent play, Xie was left behind the team’s three main players – Zhang Ning, Gong Rui Na and Zhou Mi – and did not get to represent her country at the Athens Olympics.

Although not in the Olympic Games, Xie Xingfang’s performance in 2004, but the rapid progress, has won the China, Indonesia, Germany and Denmark Open women’s singles champion; and Zhang Ning and other teammates, leading the Chinese national women’s badminton team to win the Uber Cup.

In 2005, Xie Xingfang for the first time among the final of the World Badminton Championships, and to 2-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-3) defeated the Olympic Games and World Championships double champion Zhang Ning, won the first single project of the World Championships gold medal; in the same year, she won the Badminton World Cup, the All-England Open and the German Open Championships, and teammates such as Lin Dan, led the Chinese National Badminton Team to win the Sudirman Cup title. In 2006, Xie Xingfang successfully defended her title in the Badminton World Cup, All England Open and German Open.

In 2006, Xie Xingfang successfully defended the World Badminton Championships and the All England Open, and won the Hong Kong Badminton Open again; in addition, in the team competition, she also assisted the Chinese National Women’s Badminton Team to successfully defend the Uber Cup and the gold medal of the Women’s Team in the Doha Asian Games.

In 2007, Xie Xingfang was at the peak of her form and continued her strong performance, winning the Korea Open, All England Open, China Masters, French Open, Hong Kong Open and other super tournaments in a row, and she was also the main member of the Chinese National Badminton Team in defending the Sudirman Cup title.

In 2008, Xie’s results dropped off significantly, winning only the Swiss Open in that year’s Super Series. In the Beijing Olympics, she managed to reach the final of the women’s singles in her Olympic debut against defending gold medallist and 33-year-old teammate Zhang Ning. Prior to this, Xie and Zhang had played 22 times, each winning 11 times, and they were evenly matched. This final is the same room for the Chinese team, but the competition is still very fierce; finally Xie Xingfang to 1-2 (12-21, 21-10, 18-21) defeat, only to be the runner-up.

After the Olympic Games, Xie Xingfang experienced a period of relative depression, only in the 2009 World Badminton Championships and the Asian Badminton Championships to win the second place.

After the Beijing Olympics, Xie Xingfang has been plagued by injuries, after careful consideration, she finally began to deploy retirement in 2009.

In the 11th National Games of badminton women’s singles quarter-finals, Xie Xingfang to 0-2 defeated the world’s top-ranked Wang Lin out of the game; this game also became her career farewell game.

In November of the same year, Xie Xingfang held a retirement ceremony with her teammate Zhao Tingting in Shanghai, during which Li Yongbo, the head coach of the Chinese badminton team, presented them with the ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’ trophy.

In January 2010, Xie officially retired from the Badminton World Federation.

After her retirement, Xie Xingfang became the deputy director of the Volunteer Department of the Guangzhou Asian Games, responsible for managing the volunteer work of the six Asian Games venues.

Because of her romance with Lin Dan, Xie Xingfang has been under the spotlight of the domestic media since her retirement; however, she has only been responding to rumours of her marriage in a low-key manner. 13 December 2010, a netizen met Lin Xie registering for marriage at the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Haizhu District of Guangzhou City and uploaded the photo to Weibo, where the news of their marriage was officially revealed.

In September 2011, Xie began her postgraduate studies in social work at Peking University under the supervision of sociologist Professor Wang Sibin.

Equipment Used

BG-65; ARMORTEC 700; Flame N50; NANOSPEED 9000 Type S; MUSCLE POWER 99; SHB-100LTD Olympic Edition; ARCSABER 9FL; NANOSPEED 8000 (old model); SHB-100LTD; 1547-007-K