Zhao YunLei

Jayce September 6, 2024 2 0

Character Introduction

Zhao Yunlei (赵芸蕾) (5 September 1986-), a native of Yichang, Hubei, is a Chinese female badminton player who specialises in doubles events. Zhao Yunlei partnered Tian Qing and Zhang Nan to win a total of two women’s doubles (2014, 2015) and three mixed doubles (2011, 2014, 2015) titles at the World Badminton Championships, and has helped China win the Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup as a starter many times. In the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, she won both the mixed doubles and women’s doubles gold medals, becoming the first double champion in Chinese badminton Olympic history, and her husband Hong Wei is also a former member of the Chinese national team.

Zhao Yunlei was born into a sporting family, her father Zhao Lijun was a basketball coach and headmaster of the Yichang City Sports School, and her mother Qu Xiaorong was a tennis coach; she learnt badminton at a young age under the coach of the school’s badminton team, Chen Jiyong. 1997, at the age of eleven, Zhao Yunlei was invited by the Hubei Provincial School of Physical Education and went to Wuhan to receive training, and in 2004 she was selected to join the China In 2004, she was selected to play for the second team of the China National Badminton Team.

After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Zhao Yunlei was named to the first team of the National Badminton Team of China and began to work with Cheng Shuju from Jiangsu Province in the women’s doubles. The partnership soon sparked and Zhao/Cheng won their first Badminton Super Series title at the Japan Badminton Super Series in September, defeating Malaysian duo Tan Yee Hwee/Huang Pei Tee 2-1 in the final.

In December 2008, Zhao/Cheng finished second in the Hong Kong Open to Zhao Tingting/Zhang Yawen, but still managed to make their debut in the top ten of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings thanks to their good results over the past few months.

In 2009, the Zhao Yunlei/Sung Sook pairing continued to shine, first winning the German Open, and then taking second place at the All England Championships, Indonesia Superseries, China Masters and France Superseries; in the world rankings released in April, the Zhao/Sung pairing jumped up to second place behind Malaysian pairing Wong Pui Tee/Tan Yee Hwee. In August of the same year, they reached the final of their first World Badminton Championships, and although they finished second to teammates Zhao Tingting/Zhang Yawen, they managed to climb to the top of the world rankings.

In 2010, Zhao Yunlei/Sung Sook continued their strong performance by winning the Korea and China Superseries titles, as well as the All England, Japan and Hong Kong Superseries runner-ups, before reaching the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships again. In addition, Zhao Yunlei started to play mixed doubles with Zhang Nan, and won the All England and Japan Superseries titles. However, Zhao Yunlei’s failure to make the 2010 Uber Cup squad was a severe blow to her.

After China lost the Uber Cup, major changes were brewing in the national team’s doubles portfolio. At the Guangzhou Asian Games at the end of the year, the coaching staff suddenly decided to change Zhao Yunlei’s partner in the women’s doubles to Tian Qing, who she had never worked with before, before the team event began. As a result, she and Tian Qing won gold medals in both the women’s doubles and team events in their debut together, and she also won silver in the mixed doubles with Zhang Nan.

2011 was a bumper year for Zhao Yunlei, as she and her new partner Tian Qing won the Malaysia Superseries, Singapore Superseries and Thailand Open, and reached the finals of the France Superseries, Hong Kong Superseries, Korea Premier Superseries, Denmark Premier Superseries, the Asian Championships, and the World Championships, and climbed up to No. 2 in the world rankings behind her teammates Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli, and helped the Chinese National Badminton Team to win gold medals in the women’s doubles and team events in her debut together. She also helped the Chinese National Badminton Team defend the Sudirman Cup, winning her first World Championship title.

In addition, Zhao Yunlei’s mixed doubles performance this year was even more pleasing to the eye, as her pairing with Zhang Nan won the Korea Premier Superseries, Asian Championships, Indonesia Premier Superseries, Hong Kong Superseries, China Premier Superseries and Badminton World Series Finals, and even defeated the host pairing of Chris Edelcock/Imoho in the World Badminton Championships held in London in August, 2-0 (21-15, 21-7). -Edelcock/Imogen Bankier won the World Championships for the first time and helped the national team to win the World Championships for the second consecutive year.

Zhao Yunlei and her boyfriend Zhang Nan won the mixed doubles at the 2012 Olympics. On the following day, she resisted pressure in the women’s doubles final and won the women’s doubles title with teammate Tian Qing, becoming the first athlete from the Chinese badminton team to win two gold medals in a single Olympic tournament.

In August 2016, Zhao Yunlei competed in the Olympic Games badminton tournament, playing in the mixed doubles with partner Zhang Nan. They defeated teammates Xu Chen/Ma Jin 2-0 (21-7, 21-11) in the third-place match to win a side bronze medal. Even before the match started, Zhao Yunlei said via her personal social media page, ‘Thirteen years, last match, cheers. Thank you very much for your tolerance and understanding, display limit of 10,000 blessings, I have seen all of them ~ Thank you companions and teammates for their hard work, I hope to dedicate a wonderful match tonight to those of you who love furry ball. Zhang Nan, Ma Jin, Xu Chen cheer together, Chinese mixed doubles.’ After the match, Zhao Yunlei announced that she will retire after the Olympics.

After her retirement, Zhao Yunlei first took a postgraduate course at Beijing Sport University, and at the same time served as deputy director of the Hubei Sports Bureau’s Bing and Feather Centre, and was also elected president of the Hubei Provincial Feather Association in 2017.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jun, the head coach of the Chinese national team doubles, had expressed his hope that Zhao Yunlei would return to the team as a coach and impart her rich experience to the young players; during the 2017 China Badminton Premier Super Tournament, Zhao Yunlei was invited by the national team to join the research team and participate in the work of advising. Later, she was invited by the women’s doubles coach in charge Pan Li to formally return to the national team to assist in the coaching of the women’s doubles team as a coach.

Equipment Used

Li-Ning Line 1; Turbo Charging 70i; Flame N50; N7II L; NANOSPEED 9000 Type S; Flame N55 Ⅲ; SHB-100LTD Olympic Edition; Air Stream N50 Ⅲ; SHB-99 LTD; Windstorm N60

Major Achievements

Badminton Rio Olympics Brazil 2016 Mixed Doubles 3rd Place
2016 Indonesia Badminton Premier Superseries Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2016 Uber Cup Women’s Team Champion
2016 Asian Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2016 Singapore Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2016 Malaysia Badminton Premier Superseries Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2016 All England Badminton Open Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2016 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Team Champion
2016 Thailand Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Champion
2015 Hong Kong, China Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 Hong Kong, China Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Champion
2015 China Badminton Premier Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 China Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Final Four
2015 Denmark Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2015 Korea Badminton Premier Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 Japan Badminton Premier Superseries Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2015 Japan Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Doubles Champion
2015 World Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 World Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Champion
2015 Indonesia Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2015 Sudirman Cup Champion
2015 Singapore Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 Malaysia Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 All England Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2015 All England Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles quarter-finals
2014 Badminton World Federation Super Series Finals Mixed Doubles Champion
2014 Badminton World League Super Series Finals Women’s Doubles Champion
2014 Hong Kong, China Badminton Super Series Mixed Doubles Champion
2014 Hong Kong China Badminton Super Series Women’s Doubles Champion
2014 China Badminton Super Series Mixed Doubles Champion
2014 China Badminton Super Series Women’s Doubles 1st Runner-up
2014 Incheon Asian Games Badminton Women’s Doubles 3rd Runner-up
2014 Incheon Asian Games Badminton Mixed Doubles Champion
2014 Women’s Team Champion of Incheon Asian Games Badminton, South Korea
2014 World Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2014 World Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Champion
2014 Australian Badminton Premier Superseries Women’s Doubles Champion
2014 Indonesia Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Champion
2014 Japan Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2014 Uber Cup Women’s Team Champion
2014 India Badminton Premier Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2014 All England Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2014 All England Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2014 Malaysia Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2014 Korea Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2013 BWF Super Series Finals Mixed Doubles 1st Runner-up
2013 Hong Kong Badminton Super Series Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2013 China Badminton Super Series Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2013 China Badminton Super Series Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2013 France Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2013 France Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2013 Denmark Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Champion
2013 Japan Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Champion
2013 China Badminton Masters Mixed Doubles Champion
2013 World Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Quarter-finalist
2013 Singapore Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Champion
2013 Indonesia Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2013 Indonesia Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2013 Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Champion
2013 Badminton Asia Championships Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2013 All England Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2013 All England Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2013 Korea Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Champion
2012 London Olympics Badminton Mixed Doubles Champion
2012 London Olympics Badminton Women’s Doubles Champion
2012 Korea Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Champion
2012 Malaysia Badminton Premier Mixed Doubles Champion
2012 All England Premier Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Champion
2012 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Doubles Champion
2012 Badminton Asia Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2012 Uber Cup Women’s Team Champion
2012 Indonesia Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2012 Denmark Badminton Premier Grand Prix Women’s Doubles Quarter-finalist
2012 Denmark Badminton Premier Grand Prix Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2012 Hong Kong Badminton Premier Grand Prix Women’s Doubles Champion
2012 Hong Kong Badminton Super Series Mixed Doubles Champion
2012 Badminton World League Super Series Finals Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2012 BWF Super Series Finals Mixed Doubles 1st Runner-up
2011 BWF Super Series Finals Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2011 BWF Super Series Finals Mixed Doubles Zhang Nan Champion
2011 Malaysia Badminton Premier Grand Final Women’s Doubles Champion
2011 Korea Badminton Premier Grand Final Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2011 Korea Badminton Premier Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2011 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2011 Badminton Asia Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2011 Singapore Badminton Premier Women’s Doubles Champion
2011 Singapore Badminton Premier Mixed Doubles Quarter-finalist
2011 Sudirman Cup Mixed Team Champion
2011 Thailand Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Doubles Champion
2011 Indonesia Badminton Premier Grand Prix Mixed Doubles Champion
2011 World Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2011 World Badminton Championships Mixed Doubles Champion
2011 China Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Quarter-finalist
2011 Japan Badminton Open Mixed Doubles Quarter-finalist
2011 Denmark Badminton Premier Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2011 Denmark Badminton Premier Superseries Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2011 France Badminton Premier Grand Prix Women’s Doubles 1st Runner-up
2011 France Badminton Premier Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2011 Hong Kong Badminton Superseries Women’s Doubles 1st Runner-up
2011 Hong Kong Badminton Superseries Mixed Doubles Champion
2011 China Badminton Premier Grand Prix Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2011 China Badminton Premier Series Mixed Doubles Champion
2011 BWF Super Series Finals Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2011 BWF Super Series Finals Mixed Doubles Champion
2010 Korea Badminton Super Series Women’s Doubles Champion
2010 German Open Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2010 All England Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2010 All England Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Champion
2010 World Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles 3rd Runner-up
2010 Japan Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2010 Japan Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Champion
2010 China Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Champion
2010 China Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2010 Hong Kong Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2010 Guangzhou Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team Gold Medal
2010 Guangzhou Asian Games Badminton Women’s Doubles Gold Medal
2010 Guangzhou Asian Games Badminton Mixed Doubles Silver Medal
2009 German Badminton Open Women’s Doubles Champion
2009 German Open Mixed Doubles Champion
2009 All England Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2009 Switzerland Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2009 World Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2009 Indonesia Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2009 China Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2009 France Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2009 Hong Kong Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2009 China Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Quarter-finals
2009 East Asian Games Badminton Women’s Team Gold Medal
2009 East Asian Games Badminton Women’s Doubles Bronze Medallist
2008 Japan Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Champion
2008 China Badminton Masters Women’s Doubles Champion
2008 France Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals
2008 China Badminton Super Tournament Mixed Doubles Runner-up
2008 Hong Kong Badminton Super Tournament Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2008 Macau Badminton Golden Grand Prix Women’s Doubles Champion
2008 Macau Badminton Golden Grand Prix Mixed Doubles Champion
2007 Asian Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Runner-up
2007 Austria International Badminton Championships Women’s Doubles Champion
2006 Asian Junior Badminton Women’s Doubles Champion