Chen Yufei (; born 1 March 1998) is a Chinese

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

player. She is the reigning

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion. She won the girls' singles junior titles at the 2016 Asian and the World Junior Championships. At the same year, Chen clinched her first senior title at the

Macau Open The Macau Open is a men's professional golf tournament on the Asian Tour which takes place in Macau. It was founded in 1998. The venue is the Macau Golf and Country Club at Coloane. Past winners including international stars and multiple Europea ...

. She was awarded as the 2017 Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year. On 17 December 2019, she reached a career-high BWF World Ranking as world number 1.

Career

2014–2016

Chen Yufei started playing in international level from the year 2013, being aged only 15. In 2014, she won the silver medal in the Asian Junior Championships after being beaten by Akane Yamaguchi in the final. She finished runner-up in the German Junior International event after being beaten by

Qin Jinjing Qin Jinjing (; born 27 September 1996) is a former Chinese badminton player who later played for Australia. Career Qin Jinjing began to play badminton from the first grade of elementary school, when she was 10 years old. Her biggest achievem ...

in the final. In 2015, she reached the finals of the China International but lost to

Nozomi Okuhara is a Japanese badminton player. A former World's number 1 in the BWF rankings for the women's singles, she is well known for her speed, agility and endurance. She won a bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and gold medal at the 2017 World Cha ...

. Her first Grand Prix Gold final was at the 2015 Indonesia Masters, in which she reached the final after astounding several seeded players, but lost to her teammate

He Bingjiao He Bingjiao (; Mandarin pronunciation: ; born 21 March 1997) is a Chinese badminton player. She began to receive intensive badminton training at the Suzhou Junior Sports School, when she was 7 years old. Five years later, she was sent to study in ...

. In 2016, she won the major junior titles, including the Asian Junior Championships after beating

Gregoria Mariska Tunjung Gregoria Mariska Tunjung Cahyaningsih (born 11 August 1999) is an Indonesian badminton player who plays in the singles event. Her club is PB. Mutiara Cardinal in Bandung, West Java, and entered the national team in 2013. She won the girls' sing ...

in a summit clash, and the BWF World Junior Championships by beating

Pornpawee Chochuwong Pornpawee Chochuwong ( th, พรปวีณ์ ช่อชูวงศ์; born 22 January 1998) is a Thai badminton player. She was the girls' singles silver medalist at the 2015 Asian and 2016 World Junior Championships. She was also part ...

in the final. She also won the

2016 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold The 2016 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold will be the 21st grand prix's badminton tournament of the 2016 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion Macau in Macau from 29 November to 4 December 2016 and ...

in the end of the year by defeating

Chen Xiaoxin Chen Xiaoxin (, born 24 April 1998) is a Chinese badminton player. Chen started playing badminton in 2006, and has won some junior international tournament includes the mixed team event at the 2014 World Junior Championships. She made her first ...

2017

She reached the final of the

2017 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold The 2017 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold was the fifth Grand Prix's badminton tournament of the 2017 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland on 14–19 March 2017 and had a total purse ...

and had to settle for second best after losing to the same opponent whom she defeated in Macau Open final in 2016, Chen Xiaoxin. In the 2017 BWF World Championships, the 19-year-old Chen participated as the 9th seed in the tournament. After defeating

Pai Yu-po Pai Yu-po (; born 18 April 1991) is a Taiwanese badminton player. She started playing badminton at age 9, and debuted at the 2007 Vietnam International The Vietnam International or Vietnam Satellite or Hanoi International in badminton is an inte ...

, the lower ranked Chinese Taipei's player in the first round, she set her meeting with the top seeded Akane Yamaguchi. She bulldozed her way through with the 21–18, 21–19 victory and stunned the world. This was not over yet, in the quarter-final, she defeated another higher seeded player, the former world champion

Ratchanok Intanon Ratchanok Intanon ( th, รัชนก อินทนนท์, , ; born 5 February 1995) is a Thai badminton player who became the first Thai to become No.1 in women's singles. She is known for her relaxed hitting motion and light footwork, w ...

in 3 games & assured herself of first ever medal in this elite event. However, in the semifinal, she lost to P. V. Sindhu and had to satisfy herself with the bronze medal. With her strong performances, she got a ticket to contest in the year-ending

2017 BWF Super Series Finals The 2017 BWF Super Series Finals, officially known as Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017, was the season-ending competition of the 2017 BWF Super Series. It was held from 13 to 17 December 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.Tai Tzu-ying Tai Tzu-ying (; born 20 June 1994) is a Taiwanese badminton player. At the age of 22, she became world No. 1 in the women's singles in December 2016, and she is the women's singles player who has held that title for the longest in BWF hist ...

(1–2) but won against Sung Ji-hyun (2–0) & Ratchanok Intanon (2–1) which meant she could confirm her place in the semifinal. But again, in the semi-finals, she lost to P. V. Sindhu in straight games.

2018

She contested in the

2018 German Open The 2018 German Open (also known as the 2018 German Tennis Championships) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was the 112th edition of the German Open Tennis Championships and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series ...

final but lost to Akane Yamaguchi. She won the silver medal at the

2018 Badminton Asia Championships The 2018 Badminton Asia Championships, was a badminton tournament which took place at Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium in China from 24 to 29 April 2018 and has a total purse of $350,000. Tournament The 2018 Badminton Asia Championships is the 37 ...

losing to

Tai Tzu-ying Tai Tzu-ying (; born 20 June 1994) is a Taiwanese badminton player. At the age of 22, she became world No. 1 in the women's singles in December 2016, and she is the women's singles player who has held that title for the longest in BWF hist ...

in straight games. She fell to her 9th consecutive defeat against Tai Tzu-ying in the final of the Indonesia Open, in which she took the opening game but \wasn't sufficient to beat Tai and lost the next two. In the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, she failed to cross the quarter-final after being downed by Akane Yamaguchi, a player Chen defeated last year in straight games. Akane Yamaguchi again proved difficult for Chen to crack, this time at the Asian games where she lost to her in quarter-finals. In her second Super 1000 final at the China Open, which is the highest level of World tour events in badminton, she lost to the reigning world champion,

Carolina Marín Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish professional badminton player. She is an Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, six-time European Champion, and the former World's No. 1 in BWF rankings for the women's si ...

, in straight games. At the

2018 Fuzhou China Open The 2018 Fuzhou China Open was a badminton tournament which took place at Haixia Olympics Sports Center in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, from 6 to 11 November 2018 and had a total prize of $700,000. Tournament The 2018 Fuzhou China Open was the twenty ...

, a Super 750 event, she finally broke her jinx of losing in the finals after defeating

tamely with 21–10, 21–16, and thus winning her first ever World tour title. She again qualified for taking part in the season-ending championships, this time renamed as the "

World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...

", which was held in her home country China. In the 1st match of the group stage against

, she injured herself in the deciding game and lost the match. She wasn't recovered from that yet but she played the 2nd match against the Canadian

Michelle Li Michelle Li (born November 3, 1991) is a Canadian badminton player from Markham, Ontario. Li is the 2014 Commonwealth Games champion and the first Canadian to win an individual gold medal in women's singles badminton at the Commonwealth Games. ...

& again lost. In the final group match, she twisted her ankle in the very early stage of 1st game which forced her to retire and her overall campaign ended.

2019

2019 proved the best ever year in Chen Yufei's career as she earned multiple titles and honour of becoming the most dominant player of 2019 in her category. Starting with the

2019 All England Open The 2019 All England Open (officially known as the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2019 for sponsorship reasons) was a badminton tournament which took place at Arena Birmingham in England from 6 to 10 March 2019. It had a total pur ...

, she defeated

in the final, a player she struggled to beat in her last 11 encounters. Chen finally broke that jinx and won her first super 1000 title. After that, she won the

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...

title following her win against

Saena Kawakami is a Japanese badminton player. Achievements BWF World Tour (1 title, 2 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton W ...

in the final clash. She competed in the 2019 Badminton Asia Championships as a top seed after defending champion Tai withdrew from the tournament. She made her way to the semifinal and was discomfited by Akane Yamaguchi (1–2), thus claiming the bronze medal. In the

2019 Sudirman Cup The 2019 Sudirman Cup (officially known as the 2019 Total BWF Sudirman Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th edition of the Sudirman Cup, the biennial international badminton championship contested by the mixed national teams of the member a ...

, she helped her team to win the record-breaking 11th title, in which she scored a point by defeating Akane Yamaguchi, and eventually Japan was crushed in the final with 3–0 tally by China. Her best form wasn't dipped yet, as she claimed the next title in the Australian Open by totally outplaying

in the final with a very one-sided scoreline 21–15, 21–3. She claimed the Thailand Open title victory by winning against

. With all her success in 1st half of the year, she was considered as China's best contender for gold in

2019 BWF World Championships The 2019 BWF World Championships was a badminton tournament which was held from 19 to 25 August 2019 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. Host city selection Basel was chosen to be the host of the 2019 edition of the championships over 202 ...

in her category. She started well, winning against

in round 1,

in 2nd round in 3 games. In the quarter-final, she was tested severely by Danish

Mia Blichfeldt Mia Blichfeldt (born 19 August 1997) is a Danish badminton player. She won the gold medals at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the girls' singles event, and later at the 2019 Minsk European Games in the women's singles event. Career ...

who once appeared to create an upset by leading 15–12 against her in the decider, but Chen's persistence led her way to the victory and assured her of second medal in this Grade 1 event. In the semifinal her opponent was P. V. Sindhu who had outplayed her in the 2017 World Championships. Chen again proved low against Sindhu in World Championships and was defeated with a big margin 7–21, 14–21. Thus, she again settled for a bronze medal. Leaving her disappointments, she returned very strong and again won series of titles. She won the

2019 Fuzhou China Open The 2019 Fuzhou China Open was a badminton tournament which took place at Haixia Olympics Sports Center in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, from 5 to 10 November 2019 and had a total prize of $700,000. Tournament The 2019 Fuzhou China Open was the twen ...

again, by beating the same opponent from the last year, Nozomi Okuhara, but this time with tougher opposition. After beating Ratchanok Intanon in the final, she won her 6th World tour title by winning the Hong Kong open. Going into the

2019 BWF World Tour Finals The 2019 BWF World Tour Finals (officially known as the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2019 for sponsorship reasons) was the final tournament of the 2019 BWF World Tour. It was held from 11 to 15 December 2019 in Guangzhou, China and had a total priz ...

as the best title winning contender, in the group stage, she downed all her opponents P. V. Sindhu (2–1), Akane Yamaguchi (2–0) and

(2–0) to reach the semifinal. She was drawn with Yamaguchi yet again and she displayed a very dominant performance to reach the final. In the final, she showed a great fighting spirit to beat Tai Tzu-ying after being a game down & won the title 12–21, 21–12, 21–17. With her emphatic 7 titles in the year, she became another player from China to become World no. 1 player, as the last time China had the World's top player in Women's singles was in 2015 (

Li Xuerui Li Xuerui (born 24 January 1991) is a retired Chinese professional badminton player. She is one of the most successful players of her time. She was a gold medalist at 2012 London Olympics in the women's singles event and was the silver medalists ...

2020–2021

Reaching the final yet again, this time at the

2020 Malaysia Masters The 2020 Malaysia Masters (officially known as the Perodua Malaysia Masters 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was a badminton tournament that took place at the Axiata Arena in Malaysia from 7 to 12 January 2020 and had a total purse of $400,000. T ...

, she maintained her unbeaten record at the finals since 2018 Fuzhou China Open, and outgunned

for the title in straight games. She reached her second consecutive

2020 All England Open The 2020 All England Open (officially known as the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was a badminton tournament which took place at Arena Birmingham in England from 11 to 15 March 2020. It had a total p ...

final and faced opposition from the same rival of last year, Tai Tzu-ying. This time she suffered defeat, and was dethroned from the World no. 1 position. Chen competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

as the number one seed in the women's singles. In the final, she beat

in an extremely intense match 21–18, 19–21, 21–18 to win the gold medal. In October, she helped the Chinese national team to retain the

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural ...

2022

Chen won the

Indonesia Masters The Indonesia Masters is an international badminton tournament in BWF World Tour Super 500 (Super 750 in 2021). Formerly known as the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold, it was first held in 2010 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and change its venue i ...

in June, defeating

in the final in three games. However, she lost seven finals during this season, including a

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

loss to Akane Yamaguchi during her career's first final in that event, and three losses to her compatriot

. However, due to her seven final appearances in the World Tour, she qualified for the

as the first seed. Although she suffered a surprise loss against

, she beat Akane Yamaguchi after 5 straight losses and

An Se-young An Se-young (; born 5 February 2002) is a South Korean badminton player from Gwangju, who was awarded as 2019 Most Promising Player of the Year by the BWF. In 2018, An was selected to join the national team and became the first junior high s ...

to top the group. However, she could not replicate her group stage performance in the semi-finals, as she lost to Akane Yamaguchi in straight games.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Women's singles''

BWF World Championships

''Women's singles''

Asian Championships

''Women's singles''

BWF World Junior Championships

''Girls' singles''

Asian Youth Games

''Mixed doubles''

Asian Junior Championships

''Girls' singles''

BWF World Tour (10 titles, 10 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the BWF World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Women's singles''

BWF Grand Prix (1 title, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. ''Women's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 runner-up)

''Women's singles'' : BWF International Challenge tournament : BWF International Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team

* ''Junior level'' * ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

Junior level

* ''Girls' singles'' * ''Mixed doubles''

Senior level

* ''Women's singles''

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 11 December 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Yufei 1998 births Living people Badminton players from Zhejiang Sportspeople from Hangzhou Chinese female badminton players Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of China Olympic gold medalists for China Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players