Li Yongbo (; born September 18, 1962) is a retired
Chinese male
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 and the former head coach of
Chinese National Badminton Team.
Career
As a player, he was a men's doubles specialist noted for his quickness, reflexes, and power. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s he shared numerous international titles with his regular partner
Tian Bingyi
Tian Bingyi (; born July 30, 1963) is a former badminton star from China. Though he played some singles internationally early in his career, he soon specialised in men's doubles.
Career
From the mid 1980s to the early 1990s Tian and his regular ...
. They were contemporaries and rivals of the famous Korean pair
Park Joo-bong
Park Joo-bong (Hangul: 박주봉; Hanja: 朴柱奉; born 5 December 1964) is a former badminton player from South Korea who excelled from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s.
Career
Park is one of the most successful players ever in the Wor ...
and
Kim Moon-soo, largely dividing badminton's biggest doubles events between them for about eight seasons. Among many other tournaments around the world Li and Tian captured the (then biennial)
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, ...
in 1987 and 1989, the prestigious
All-England Championships in 1987, 1988, and 1991, and the
Danish Open Danish Open may refer to:
* Denmark Open a badminton tournament
* Danish Open (golf)
The Danish Open was the national open golf tournament of Denmark. In 1991, from 1993–1997 and from 2000–2004 it was an event on the Challenge Tour
The Cha ...
in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991.
They also played on Chinese
Thomas Cup
The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships ha ...
(men's international) teams that won consecutive world team titles in
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal en ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
, and
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
. Late in their partnership they won a bronze medal in men's doubles at the
1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
As the Chinese badminton women's doubles coach during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, his players were banned from competition for "tanking" their match against South Korea, who won the match but were also banned similarly
(as were the Indonesian women's doubles team). Li has admitted his role in the scandal; insiders say Li used fear tactics and intimidation to a strategic advantage in national and Olympic competition. By losing, his team would have avoided playing another Chinese team.
Following the conclusion of the Rio Olympics, where China won two gold medals, he stood down in 2017.
[
]
Achievements
Olympic Games
''Men's doubles''
World Championships
''Men's doubles''
World Cup
''Men's doubles''
Asian Games
''Men's doubles''
IBF World Grand Prix (27 titles, 8 runners-up)
The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since from 1983 to 2006.
''Men's doubles''
References
External links
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*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Yongbo
1962 births
Living people
Badminton players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Badminton players from Dalian
Olympic badminton players of China
Olympic bronze medalists for China
Olympic medalists in badminton
Asian Games medalists in badminton
Chinese badminton coaches
Badminton players at the 1986 Asian Games
Chinese male badminton players
Badminton players at the 1990 Asian Games
Badminton players at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Asian Games gold medalists for China
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games
Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games
World No. 1 badminton players
20th-century Chinese people