Yao Jie

Joyce September 13, 2024 0

Character Introduction

Yao Jie (born in Wuhan, Hubei) later became a Dutch female badminton player.

Yao Jie comes from a sports family; her father was a football player, and her mother practiced gymnastics and athletics. As a child, she was spotted by a gymnastics coach and trained in gymnastics for a while before switching to badminton. She was later selected for the Chinese national badminton team and was in the same group as Olympic champion Zhang Ning.

In 1999, Yao Jie transferred from the national team to the Hubei team. After gaining approval from the provincial team, she decided to move to the Netherlands to play for a badminton club. Due to her impressive performances in the Netherlands, she was invited to join the Dutch national team as a training partner for Mia Audina and was offered a one-year contract.

In September 2001, Yao Jie competed in the Netherlands Open and reached the final in both women’s singles and mixed doubles with Mia Audina. She also won the European Badminton Championships representing the Netherlands. In November of the same year, she planned to return to China for the National Games and had already purchased a ticket, but ultimately did not return. Instead, she extended her work visa in the Netherlands and continued to compete in European tournaments.

In October 2003, Yao Jie obtained Dutch citizenship and officially joined the Dutch national badminton team as an “overseas player.” That year, she returned to Guangzhou to compete in the China Open. In 2004, Yao Jie represented the Netherlands at the Athens Olympics in women’s singles, where she was eliminated in the round of 16 by Wang Chen of Hong Kong.

In 2008, Yao Jie had accumulated the necessary points to compete in the Olympics; however, due to the Dutch Olympic Committee’s requirement that athletes must be in the world top 16 to participate, Yao Jie, ranked 17th at the time, unfortunately missed the Beijing Olympics. In October of the same year, at age 31, she won the Netherlands Open again, her first title in three years. Yao Jie announced her retirement in 2009.

In 2011, two years after retiring, Yao Jie was recalled by the Dutch Olympic Committee, allowing her to participate in the Olympics once again. In June of that year, she competed in the Singapore Super Series, defeating Cheng Shao-chieh and Pai Hsiao-ma, and reached the semi-finals of the Super Series at the age of 34.

In July 2012, Yao Jie represented the Netherlands at the London Olympics in women’s singles. She won her group matches against Egle Stapukaitite of Lithuania and Ragna Ingolfsdottir of Iceland but was eliminated in the first knockout round by Saina Nehwal of India with scores of 14-21, 16-21, stopping at the round of 16 and concluding her second Olympic journey. In November of the same year, Yao Jie competed in the Hong Kong Super Series women’s singles but was defeated in the first round by Thai youngster Busanan Ongbamrungphan. After this, she announced her retirement, ending her athletic career.