Shi Yuqi (; Mandarin pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1996) 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 pe ...

player. Shi Yuqi won his first Superseries title in the 2016 French Open. At the 2017 All England Open, he defeated 6-time champion

Lin Dan Lin Dan (born 14 October 1983) is a Chinese former professional badminton player. He is a two-time Olympic champion, five-time World champion, as well as a six-time All England champion. Widely regarded as the greatest badminton player of a ...

to reach the final, and repeated the same feat again at the 2018 All England Open, where he outclassed Lin Dan in the tournament final.

Early life

Shi was born on 28 February 1996, in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province to parents Shi Lei and Fang Fang. He started playing badminton at age six when he entered a junior sports school in the city to practice badminton. In 2007, Shi went to Singapore to study as well as play badminton. He enrolled in Yu Neng Primary School and trained at the Singapore Badminton School under ex- SBA chief coach Zhang Qing Song. In 2009, he returned to China after the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

. In 2011, Shi won first place in the Jiangsu Province youth badminton competition. Thereafter, he successfully entered the Jiangsu Province badminton team and became a professional badminton player. In 2012, he participated in the National Youth Championship for the first time and won the championship. At the age of 16, he was selected for the national badminton team.

Career

2012–2015: Youth Olympics gold and Asian Junior Champion

In 2012, Shi participated in his first Asian Junior Championships and came in second in the mixed team event after China lost 0–3 to Japan in the final. In the boys' singles event, he lost to

C. Rohit Yadav C. Rohit Yadav (born 8 December 1995) is an Indian 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 "sing ...

of India in the round of 32 after a three games battle that lasted for 65 mins. In the 2013 edition of the

Asian Junior Badminton Championships The Badminton Asia Junior Championships is a tournament organized by the Badminton Asia governing body to crown the best junior badminton players (under-19) in Asia. Championships (U19) The table below gives an overview of all host cities and count ...

, Shi, as a member of the Chinese team, came in first in the mixed team event, beating South Korea 3–1 in the final. He competed at the

Asian Youth Games The Asian Youth Games, also known as AYG, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The Games are described as the second largest multi-sp ...

, winning the bronze medals in the boys' singles and mixed doubles partnered with Chen Yufei. Later that year, Shi made his senior international debut at the Korea Grand Prix Gold where he would lose in the first round to South Korea's

Hong Ji-hoon Hong Ji-hoon (Hangul: 홍지훈), born 27 October 1988) is a South Korean badminton player. Career In 2006, he won a gold medal at the BWF World Junior Championships in the boys' singles event. He defeated Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia with the ...

in two straight games after advancing from the qualifiers. In 2014, Shi had the first breakthrough of his fledgling career. He won both the mixed team and boys' singles titles at the

. He first helped China defend its mixed team title by sweeping South Korea 3–0 in the final. In the boys' singles event that follow, he advanced to the final where he defeated

Kanta Tsuneyama is a Japanese 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 ...

of Japan in three games 19–21, 21–16, 21–16 to win the title. Shi then followed up with another mixed team success at the World Junior Championships, where China defeated Indonesia 3–0 in the final. He also won a silver medal in the boys' singles event after losing to his compatriot

Lin Guipu Lin Guipu (; born 21 April 1997) is a Chinese badminton player. Achievements Youth Olympic Games ''Boys' singles'' BWF World Junior Championships ''Boys' singles'' Asian Youth Games ''Boys' singles'' Asian Junior Championships ...

in the final. In August, at the

Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

, he won the boys' singles gold after avenging his defeat to Lin Guipu at the World Junior Championships final by beating him 21–15, 21–19 this time. Shi, however, did not have a good year in 2015, his best showing was at the China Open, where he reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, losing to

Son Wan-ho Son Wan-ho (Hangul: 손완호; or ; born 17 May 1988) is a South Korean badminton player. He reached a career high as world number 1 in the men's singles in May 2017. He competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He plays primarily defensive ...

of South Korea in three games.

2016: Three tour titles

In 2016, Shi became a first-line player on the Chinese badminton team. He started the season poorly though, reaching only the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International in his first eight-month on tour. However, his form improved later in the year and he won his first senior title on tour by winning 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 ...

after his compatriot

Huang Yuxiang Huang Yuxiang (; born 25 January 1993) is a Chinese badminton player. He won his first international senior title at the 2016 New Zealand Open. Achievements Asian Junior Championships ''Boys' singles'' BWF Grand Prix (1 title, 3 runner ...

retired in the second game of the final with Shi leading 21–12, 11–0. He followed up from his success by winning the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

next, beating

Lee Hyun-il Lee Hyun-il ( ko, 이현일; born 17 April 1980) is a former badminton player from South Korea. He is a former World and Asian Championships bronze medalist, and was part of South Korean team that won the 2003 Sudirman Cup as well the gold medal ...

of South Korea in two straight games 21–16, 21–19. Shi then continued his rich veins of form by winning the

Bitburger Open The Hylo Open, formerly known as the BMW Badminton Cup, BMW Open, Bitburger Masters, Bitburger Open and SaarLorLux Open, is an international badminton tournament held at the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken, Germany, since 1988. It was sponsored by th ...

, beating India's

Sourabh Varma Sourabh Verma (born 30 December 1992) is an Indian badminton player. He is a three time men's singles title Champion at the Indian National Championships. Verma reached a career high world ranking of no. 28 in December 2019. Career overview ...

21–19, 22–20 in the final.

2017: All England finalist and Asian Championships bronze

Shi continued his good form into 2017. He started the season by winning a bronze medal in the Asia Mixed Team Championships where China lost to the eventual winner Japan 1–3 in the semi-finals. In March, he reached the final of the All England Open by beating his senior

in the semi-finals. He, however, would lose in the final to Malaysia's

Lee Chong Wei Datuk Lee Chong Wei (; born 21 October 1982) is a Malaysian former badminton player. As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 349 weeks, including a 199-week streak from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012. He is the fifth Malay ...

in two straight games 12–21, 10–21. Shi reached another final at 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 ...

, but lost tamely to Lin Dan in the final this time around. In April, he competed in the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

and finished with a bronze medal after losing to compatriot

Chen Long Chen Long (; ; born 18 January 1989), is a Chinese former professional badminton player. He is the 2016 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and an Asian champion. Chen was a former World number 1, occupying the top men's singles ranki ...

19–21, 15–21 in the semi-finals. In August, Shi participated in his maiden

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, ...

but was knocked out by Hong Kong's

Wong Wing Ki Vincent Wong Wing Ki (, born Wong Shu Ki (黃書棋); 18 March 1990) is a retired badminton player who represented Hong Kong. Name change Wong Wing Ki was born Wong Shu Ki (黃書棋), but he changed his name when he was 17. "Shu" is homophon ...

in the third round. At the year-end World Superseries Finals, he lost in the semi-finals to

Viktor Axelsen Viktor Axelsen (born 4 January 1994) is a Danish badminton player. He is the 2017 and 2022 World champion and the 2020 Olympic champion. He won the 2010 World Junior Championships, beating South Korea's Kang Ji-wook in the final to become the ...

of Denmark 12–21, 8–21.

2018: First All England and World Tour Finals titles, Thomas Cup and Asian Games Team Champions, World Championships silver

2018 was probably Shi's best season to date. He began by winning the

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

in January, beating

Chou Tien-chen Chou Tien-chen (Chinese: 周天成; born 8 January 1990) is a Taiwanese badminton player. He became the first local shuttler in 17 years to win the men's singles title of the Chinese Taipei Open in 2016 since Indonesian-born Fung Permadi won i ...

of Chinese Tapei in two straight games. In February, he won a silver medal in the Asia Team Championships after China lost to Indonesia 1–3 in the final. He started March by reaching the semi-finals of the German Open where he lost to

Ng Ka Long Angus Ng Ka-long (born 24 June 1994) is a badminton player from Hong Kong. He has a career-high ranking of 6th in the men's singles discipline. He won the 2016 Hong Kong Super Series and the 2020 Thailand Masters. Early life and education ...

of Hong Kong in three tightly contested games. He then competed at the All England and won the crown, defeating

in the final, with the scoreline of 21–19, 16–21, 21–9. It was his biggest ever individual title on tour and his first Super 1000 title. In May, Shi was selected to represent the Chinese team in the

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 h ...

and he did not disappoint, winning the crucial men's singles tie against

Kenta Nishimoto is a Japanese badminton player. He won a silver medal in the men's singles at the 2017 Summer Universiade and a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. Nishimoto was part of Japan winning team at the 2012 Asian Junior Championships and at the ...

in the final, to help his team to a 3–1 victory over Japan. In July, he participated in his second

and made it all the way to the final where he lost to Japan's

Kento Momota is a Japanese badminton player. He is known to have a skillful and relentless play style on court. He has won several major badminton tournaments including two World Championships titles, two Asian Championships titles, and one All England ...

, thus finishing with a silver medal, which is his best showing in the tournament thus far. In August, Shi participated in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

men's team event where China claimed the gold medal for a record sixth time after defeating Indonesia 3–1 in the final. In October, he reached his second

final but was defeated by

in two straight games. At the year-end tourney, Shi avenged his defeat at the

by beating

21–12, 21–11 to win his first World Tour Final title.

2019: Sudirman Cup Champion, Asian Championships silver and First Swiss Open title

Shi's first tournament of the season was at the Malaysia Masters where he reached the quarter-finals but was defeated by Malaysia's Daren Liew in three games. In March, his quest to defend his All England title was thwarted by

after losing to him in the semi-finals. Shi then bounces back quickly from his disappointment by winning the next tournament, the

. There, he defeated B. Sai Praneeth in three games, 19–21, 21–18, 21–12, to win his first

title. In April, he competed at the Malaysia Open but lost to

in the semi-finals. He then participated in the

held in Wuhan, China, where he finished with a silver medal, after losing to

in the final. In May, at 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 inaugura ...

, Shi helped the Chinese team to win their eleven titles after he completes a stunning comeback over World No.1 Kento Momota to clinch China three-game sweep of Japan. In July, Shi participated in the Indonesia Open where he suffered a horrible ankle injury in a match with

Anders Antonsen Anders Antonsen (born 27 April 1997) is a Danish badminton player. He won the gold medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys singles event, and at the same year was awarded the European Young Player of the Year. Together with th ...

and had to retire. For the rest of the year, Shi did not perform well, he only reached the final of 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 ...

, where he lost to Thailand's

Sitthikom Thammasin Sitthikom Thammasin ( th, สิทธิคมน์ ธรรมศิลป์; born 7 April 1995) is a Thai badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played wi ...

21–12, 14–21, 7–21.

2020: All England quarter-finalist

Shi had a hectic start to the 2020 season where he participated in three straight tournaments in January to begin the season. He reached the quarter-finals of both the Malaysia Masters and

where he lost to Malaysia's

Lee Zii Jia Lee Zii Jia (, born 29 March 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was the men's singles gold medalist at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and won his first BWF Super 1000 title at the 2021 All England Open. Lee is the reigning men's singles ...

and Hong Kong's

Lee Cheuk Yiu Lee Cheuk Yiu (; born 28 August 1996) is a Hong Kong badminton player. Career Lee reached the final of the 2019 Hong Kong Open, after quarter- and semi-final wins against former world champion Viktor Axelsen and former world number one Sri ...

respectively. The following week, at the

Thailand Masters The Thailand Masters was a professional snooker tournament. Previously known as Asian Open and Thailand Open, it was a ranking tournament from 1989/90 to 2001/02. An event called the ''Thailand Masters'' also formed part of the ''World Series'' i ...

, Shi managed to reach the semi-finals where he would lose to

18–21, 19–21. In March, he competed in the All England Open, but was defeated by

again albeit, in the quarter-finals this time. This will turn out to be his final tournament of the year as the rest of the tourneys were mostly canceled after the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak.

2021: Second Sudirman Cup and First National title

In 2021, Shi competed in only four tournaments, namely the delayed Tokyo Olympics in July, the Chinese National Championships and the

in September, and the delayed

in October. In the Tokyo Olympics, Shi cleared the group stage easily and met

Jonatan Christie Leonardus Jonatan Christie (born 15 September 1997) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in the singles discipline affiliated with the Tangkas Specs club. He won the men's singles title at the Badminton at the 2017 Southeast Asian Ga ...

of Indonesia in the knockout round where, he had no problem dispatching, beating him 21–11, 21–9. In the quarter-final, he faced

again and lost 13–21, 13–21, thus ending his Olympics campaign. In the Chinese National Championships, he finally claimed his first national title after beating Jiangsu teammate

Lu Guangzu Lu Guangzu (; born on 19 October 1996) is a Chinese badminton player. In 2018, Lu made into his first final at the Lingshui China Masters. Since then, he both won Australian Open and Canada Open's titles. Career 2022 Lu reached the final o ...

, 21–9, 21–13 in the final. In the

, Shi performed well, helping China defend its title from 2019 against rivals Japan in a 3–1 victory. In the

, China reached the final but lost to Indonesia 3–0. He did not play in the final.

Controversy

Shi played as the first men's singles against

of Japan at the 2020 Thomas Cup semi-finals in Aarhus, Denmark. Shi lost the first set 22–20, and retired in the second just as Momota was about to serve at 20–5. This “bizarre” retreat caused some controversy. Shi later cited injuries and tiredness for his withdrawal in a social media post, citing that since he withdrew when the opponent was at 20 points, he has not recorded a loss because it was not at 21. However, that did little to quell netizens' anger, with people calling him out for his unsportsmanlike behavior.

Suspension

In an interview before the 2022 Thomas Cup Finals, the president of the Chinese Badminton Association, Zhang Jun confirmed that after an internal review, Shi has been suspended from the national team and barred from playing in any international tournaments for one year. The internal ban was due to the infamous incident from the 2021 Thomas Cup competition and the immature comments that he said after the match.

2022: Strong return, two tour titles

At the 2022 BWF World Championships held in Tokyo, Japan, Shi returned to action for the first time in 10 months after serving a ban and beat Azerbaijan's

Ade Resky Dwicahyo Ade Resky Dwicahyo ( az, Edi Reski Dviçayo, born 13 May 1998) is an Indonesian-born Azerbaijani badminton player. Playing in men's singles and men's doubles, he became an Azerbaijani naturalized citizen in 2018. He represented Azerbaijan at the ...

22–20, 21–10, Denmark's

Rasmus Gemke Rasmus Gemke (born 11 January 1997) is a Danish badminton player. He was awarded the 2012 Badminton Denmark Comet of the Year. He was part of the Danish national U-19 team to win bronze at the 2015 European Junior Badminton Championships in Lubin ...

21–13, 21–16 in the first two round but lost out for a place in the quarter-finals after losing to Indonesia's

Anthony Sinisuka Ginting Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (; born October 20, 1996) is an Indonesian badminton player. He first rose to prominence when he won the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. At the 2020 Olympics, he won bronze in the men's singles event. He became th ...

, in the third round, with a scoreline of 11–21, 21–13, 18–21. The following week, he participated at the Japan Open and played well, reaching the semi-finals where he would lose to Chinese Tapei's

in another three set battle, 21–15, 19–21, 12–21. In October, at the

Denmark Open The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Badminton Denmark. The Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier from 2011 to 2017. BWF categorised it as one of ...

, Shi had his best showing of the season when he defeated Malaysia's

in a thrilling three setters, 21–18, 16–21, 21–12 to clinch his maiden Danish title and his first world tour title in three years. After his success in Denmark, Shi would struggle to replicate his best form in the next two tournaments that he competed in. At the

, he lost in the first round to Thailand's

, 16–21, 14–21 and followed that up with yet another first round defeat to Singapore's

Loh Kean Yew Loh Kean Yew (; born 26 June 1997) is a Singaporean badminton player. He is the former men's singles world champion, winning the title at the 2021 BWF World Championships, becoming the first Singaporean to achieve this feat. Born in Penang, Ma ...

, 5–21, 20–22 at the

Hylo Open The Hylo Open, formerly known as the BMW Badminton Cup, BMW Open, Bitburger Masters, Bitburger Open and SaarLorLux Open, is an international badminton tournament held at the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken, Germany, since 1988. It was sponsored by th ...

in Germany. He then finished the season strongly by winning the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

title after defeating his fellow countryman

, 21–19, 18–21, 21–5. He is the only men's singles player beside

and

who had won 2 or more BWF Tour titles in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

despite participating in only 6 competitions this year.

Achievements

BWF World Championships

''Men's singles''

Asian Championships

''Men's singles''

Youth Olympic Games

''Boys' singles''

BWF World Junior Championships

''Boys' singles''

Asian Youth Games

''Boys' singles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Junior Championships

''Boys' singles''

BWF World Tour (6 titles, 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 World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

(BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Men's singles''

BWF Superseries (1 title, 1 runner-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Men's singles'' :

BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series c ...

tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

tournament

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 1 runner-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

(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. ''Men's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 21 November 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Yuqi 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Nantong Badminton players from Jiangsu Chinese male badminton players Badminton players at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Youth Olympic gold medalists for China Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of China Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Nanjing Sport Institute alumni