Shi Yuqi

Shi Yuqi
Shi Yuqi during the Indonesia Open in July 2018, where he reached the semi-finals.
Country:	People's Republic of China
Date of birth:	February 28, 1996
Place of birth:	Nantong , Jiangsu
Size:	184 cm
Playing hand:	Right
BWF ID:	57945
Medals
World championships silver 2018 Nanjing singles Thomas Cup gold 2018 Bangkok Men's team Sudirman Cup silver 2017 Gold Coast Mixed team gold 2019 Nanning Mixed team Asian Championships bronze 2017 Wuhan singles silver 2019 Wuhan singles Team Asian Championships silver 2018 Alor Setar Men's team Mixed Asian Championship bronze 2017 Ho Chi Minh Mixed team  Youth Olympic Games gold 2014 Nanjing singles Junior World Championships bronze 2013 Bangkok Mixed team gold 2014 Alor Setar Mixed team silver 2014 Alor Setar singles Junior Asian Championships silver 2012 Gimcheon Mixed team gold 2013 Kota Kinabalu Mixed team gold 2014 Taipei Mixed team gold 2014 Taipei singles Junior Asian Games bronze 2013 Nanjing singles bronze 2013 Nanjing Mixed doubles
BWF profile
As of August 7, 2018

Shi Yuqi ( Chinese  石宇奇 , Pinyin Shí Yǔqí , born February 28, 1996 in Nantong ) is a Chinese badminton player who moved up to second place in the world rankings in 2017 . He is a junior Olympic champion and world champion, won several medals at Asian championships, secured the Thomas Cup 2018 with the Chinese team and in the same year won the individual competition at the All England Open Badminton Championships and the silver medal at the World Championships .

Athletic career

Promotion as a junior and beginning with the seniors

From 2012 to 2014 Shi Yuqi was successful in various junior competitions. For example, he won gold medals at Junior World Championships , Junior Asian Championships and at the Youth Olympic Games . He also achieved top placements at the Asian Junior Games 2013 and the Dutch Juniors 2014 in Haarlem .

In November 2013 he took part as a qualifier in his first major international tournament, the Korea Masters in Jeonju , which at the time was classified as "Grand Prix Gold" . He was eliminated from Hong Ji-hoon in the first round . In November of the same year he qualified for the Vietnam Open , where Shih Kuei-Chun was beaten in the second round . In 2014 he was eliminated in July at the Chinese Taipei Open in the second round against Son Wan-ho and in November at the Macau Open in the same round after three sets against Hsu Jen-Hao .

Establishment among the world's best

Shi Yuqi was able to meet the expectations placed on him given his successes in the junior sector. In November 2015, he took part in the China Open - his first tournament in the highest category (then "Super Series Premier") - and reached the quarter-finals straight away. In autumn 2016 he won competitions in the high tournament series for the first time with the Indonesian Masters , the French Open and the Saarbrücken Open . The triumph at the French Open was particularly weighty, as it was a BWF Super Series tournament and belonged to the world's second highest category. There was also a semi-finals at the Super Series tournament Japan Open .

In March 2017 Shi Yuqi competed for the first time at the All England Open Badminton Championships (= All England) in Birmingham , which are generally considered to be the most prestigious tournament in the world. In the semifinals he was able to prevail in two sets against the six-time winner Lin Dan . He was the first unset player since Son Wan-ho 2014 to reach the finals. There he had to admit defeat to the Malaysian Lee Chong Wei .

Although 2017 did not bring him another tournament victory - for example a semi-final at the Australian Open - he secured the bronze medal at the Asian Championships in Wuhan and second place with the Chinese mixed team at Sudirman, which was held in the Australian Gold Coast Cup . In addition, his successes gave him a starting place at the World Cup in Glasgow in August , where he was immediately placed in fourth place. In the third round he was eliminated from Wong Wing Ki .

In spring 2018 he won a competition in the third highest category with the India Open and reached the semi-finals at the German Open a few weeks later . Then he was able to repeat his entry into the finals from the previous year at the All England - this time in seventh position on the seeding list. He defeated the reigning Olympic champion and two-time individual world champion Chen Long in the quarter-finals . In the final, Shi Yuqi met another compatriot, Lin Dan, who is often referred to as the best badminton player of all time due to his successes. After two even, split sets, Shi Yuqi had the upper hand in the third set 21: 9 and won the All England.

During the 2018 World Cup in Nanjing , where he was placed third, Shi Yuqi defeated his compatriots Chen Long and Lin Dan and made it to the final. There he lost to the Japanese Kento Momota 11:21, 13:21 and finished the tournament with the silver medal.

statistics

As of December 23, 2019

Tournament victories

No.	date	competition	Category 1	Final opponent	Result
1.	Sep 11 2016	Indonesian Masters	Grand Prix Gold	Huang Yuxiang	21:12, 11: 00 r
2.	Oct. 30, 2016	French Open	Super Series	Hsu Jen-hao	21: 07, 21:15
3.	0Nov 6, 2016	Open Saarbrücken	Grand Prix Gold	Sourabh Varma	21:19, 22:20
4th	0Feb. 4, 2018	India Open	Super 500	Chou Tien-Chen	21:18, 21:14
5.	18 Mar 2018	All England Open	Super 1000	Lin Dan	21:19, 16:21, 21: 09
6th	16 Dec 2018	World Tour Finals	World Tour Finals	Kento Momota	21:12, 21:11
7th	17th Mar 2019	Swiss Open	Super 300	Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati	19:21, 21:18, 21:12

Final participation

No.	date	competition	Category 1	Final opponent	Result
1.	March 12 2017	All England Open	Super Series Premier	Lee Chong Wei	12:21, 10:21
2.	19 Mar 2017	Swiss Open	Grand Prix Gold	Lin Dan	12:21, 11:21
3.	05th Aug 2018	World Championship	World Championship	Kento Momota	11:21, 13:21
4th	Oct 28, 2018	French Open	Super 750	Chen Long	17:21, 19:21
5.	0Nov 3, 2018	Macau Open	Super 300	Sitthikom Thammasin	21:12, 14:21, 07:21

¹Since 2007, the Badminton World Federation has hosted the BWF Super Series as the highest tournament series . From 2011 onwards, selected competitions were declared as the superordinate “Super Series Premier”. The next lower tournament series was the BWF Grand Prix , within which tournaments with a particularly large amount of prize money were run as "Grand Prix Gold". These included the three series International Series, International Challenge and Future Series. After a reform of the tournament series, the highest since 2018 is called the BWF World Tour , whose tournaments are divided into the categories Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 and Super 100 depending on the prize money and prestige. The tournament series BWF Grand Prix was dissolved for this purpose.

Record at the most important tournaments

The following table shows Shi Yuqi's performance in the highest-ranking tournaments. Up to and including 2017, these were the BWF Super Series competitions classified as “Super Series Premier” ; since the tournament series was redesigned at the beginning of the 2018 season, it has been the BWF World Tour competitions classified as “Super 1000” . Fields with a gray background indicate that the respective tournaments in the respective year did not belong to the highest-ranking series.

competition	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
All England Open	-	-	F.	S.	HF
China Open	VF	2	VF	HF	1
Indonesia Open	-	-	2	HF	2
Denmark Open	-	VF	1
Malaysia Open	-	-	1

World rankings

year	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Placement at the end of the year	497.	303	115.	010.	008th.	002.

Web links

• Official profile of Shi Yuqi on the Badminton World Federation homepage
• Official game statistics for Shi Yuqi on the Badminton World Federation homepage

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Shi is the family name here, Yuqi is the first name.