Wang Shixian (; ; born 13 February 1990) is a retired Chinese professional badminton player. She is a former World No. 1 in women's singles.

Career

Wang Shixian was admitted into Chinese Junior National Team in 2005 and was soon promoted to the second-level adult team a year later, but she got the chance to compete in the international stages only in 2009, after being promoted to the first-level adult team.

2007–2009

Wang participated in

2007 BWF World Junior Championships The 2007 BWF World Junior Championships was an international badminton tournament held in Waitakere City, New Zealand. The team competition was held from 25 to 28 October, and the individual events were from 30 October to 4 November 2007. Medali ...

being unseeded. She lost to Bae Yeon-ju there in straight games. In 2008, she won a silver medal in

2008 Asian Junior Badminton Championships The 2008 Asian Junior Badminton Championships were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 13–20 July. Medalists Medal table External linksTeam Eventat ''Tournamentsoftware.com''Individual Eventat ''Tournamentsoftware.com'' {{Badminton As ...

, after losing to Li Xuerui, her compatriot. She also won a bronze medal in

2008 BWF World Junior Championships The 2008 BWF World Junior Championships took place in Pune, India, from 29 October to 2 November 2008. Medalists Team competition A total of 21 countries competed at the team competition in 2008 BWF World Junior Championships. Final positi ...

losing the semifinal to eventual winner

Saina Nehwal Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 ...

. In 2009, she stunned several seeded players in Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold, including former world champion Zhu Lin in the second round, and reached the final. By beating her teammate Wang Xin there, she won her career's first-ever title. She won her first superseries title by winning 2009 China Masters Super Series in which she beat a series of strong rivals on her way, including no. 4 seed

Wang Yihan Wang Yihan (born 18 January 1988) is a retired Chinese professional badminton player and former women's singles world champion and Olympic silver medalist. Wang started her career with her coach Wang Pengren at only nine years of age. She was ...

in quarter-final, reigning world champion

Lu Lan Lu Lan (born 2 May 1987) is a badminton player from China. Career In 2004, she won the Polish Open (badminton), Polish Open. In 2006, she won the 2006 Korea Open, Korea Open and finished the year in the 5th position in the BWF World Ranking. In ...

in semis, and no. 2 seeded Wang Lin in the final.

2010–2011

Wang won 2 superseries titles this year, first one was 2010 Korea Open Super Series, where she beat

Sung Ji-hyun Sung Ji-hyun (; born 29 July 1991) is a South Korean badminton player from Seoul. She is an Asian Championship gold medalist, a two-time Summer Universiade gold medalist, and a World Championship bronze medalist. She was also part of South Kor ...

in the final and another one was the

2010 Swiss Super Series The 2010 Swiss Open Super Series is a top level badminton competition which will be held from March 16, 2010 to March 21, 2010 in Basel, Switzerland. It is the fourth BWF Super Series competition on the 2010 BWF Super Series schedule. The total p ...

event, by beating

Jiang Yanjiao Jiang Yanjiao (; born 26 June 1986), is a Chinese badminton player from Changzhou. She graduated from the Huaqiao University. Career A winner of both the BWF World Junior Championships (2002) and the Asian Junior Championships (2004), Jiang has ...

of China. In the

2010 BWF World Championships 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, she defeated

in the quarter-final and assured herself of the first ever major medal in her career. She settled for a bronze medal after losing the semifinal to Wang Xin with 19–21, 21–11, 16–21. She savoured her career's biggest ever success by winning the gold medal in the

2010 Asian games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several event ...

, beating her recent nemesis Wang Xin in the final with 21–18, 21–15 scores. She had runner-up finishes at the 2010 China Open Super Series & 2010 Hong Kong Super Series events also later in the year. In 2011, Wang took part in the 2010 BWF Super Series Finals. In the group stage, she defeated Yao Jie,

Salakjit Ponsana Salakjit Ponsana ( th, สลักจิต พลสนะ; , born 14 February 1984) is a Thai retired badminton player. She competed in the women's singles event at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her brother, Boonsak Ponsana is also ...

& Bae Yeon-ju in straight games. With her group victories, she advanced to the semifinal where she met Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin and beat her in 2 games. Her opponent for the final was Bae Yeon-ju, whom Shixian defeated earlier in the group stage. This time too, Wang beat her, with 21–13, 21–15 scores and claimed the title victory which helped her to reach the World no. 1 position for the first time after ranks were updated next week. She then won the 2011 Malaysia Super Series after securing a stunning victory against

. Only after a week, she lost to same opponent Wang Yihan in the final of 2011 Korea Super Series. She claimed her first ever All England crown with her fascinating victory over Japan's Eriko Hirose in the final of 2011 All England Super Series with 24–22, 21–18 scoreline. She was seeded top in the

2011 BWF World Championships The 2011 BWF World Championships was the 19th tournament of the World Badminton Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at Wembley Arena in London, England, from August 8 to August 14, 2011. China clean swept a ...

where she was upset by Taipei's shuttler

Cheng Shao-chieh Cheng Shao-chieh (; born 4 January 1986) is a badminton player from Taiwan. Cheng played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics for the Republic of China as Chinese Taipei. In women's singles, she defeated Ling Wan Ting of Hong Kong and Jun Jae- ...

in quarter-final. She then claimed 2011 China Masters Super Series title when she was leading 21–16 and 8–5 & her opponent Jiang Yanjiao retired. She also claimed Macau Open title in the year end by beating

Han Li Han Li (, born 16 January 1988) is a Chinese badminton player from Tai'an, Shandong. In 2003, she was elected to join the Chinese national youth team, and two years later she joined the national senior team. In 2006, she won the gold medal at ...

in the summit clash.

2012

Wang won the Korean Open title by beating

in the final clash. She was the finalist in the 2012 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, where she gone down against

. She won her first Asian Championship medal when she reached the semifinal. But was defeated by

hence settled for bronze. She was the prime contender from China for the participation in the 2012 Olympics, other already confirmed players from China were Wang Yihan and Wang Xin. But there was another rising Chinese player Li Xuerui who was ranked below Wang Shixian but with her stunning 6 finals in the 1st half of 2012 made her ranking points more than Shixian and hence, the head coach

Li Yongbo Li Yongbo (; born September 18, 1962) is a retired Chinese male badminton 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. ...

selected Li instead of Wang Shixian to contest the Olympics, and Shixian's Olympic dream was broken. However some sources say she had relatively poor performance against other top players of different countries when compared to her teammates, significantly against players like Saina Nehwal &

Juliane Schenk Juliane Schenk (born 26 November 1982) is a German badminton player. In March 2014 she retired from international play. Career In 2001, she won the European Junior Championships in women's singles. 2003 saw her win the women's doubles with Ni ...

. Li Xuerui on the other hand had beaten them multiple times so that's why Shixian was omitted from the Olympic squad and Li was chosen. In year end finals, she reached the semifinal after having 2 group wins. She ousted

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 ...

there and advanced to final round. She retired when trailing 9–21, 4–15 against Li Xuerui and finished as runner-up.

2013

After a moment of distress Wang Shixian started the year very well, she was runner-up to the Victor Korea Open where she was ousted by Sung Ji-hyun. She succeeded in taking the Swiss Open title by beating Ratchanok Intanon. Wang Shixian competed at the BWF world championship that took place in Guangzhou China as the 7th seed. Nonetheless she lost against

P. V. Sindhu Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at th ...

again (18–21; 17–21) who also downed Wang's compatriot & defending champion Wang Yihan earlier in the 2nd round. The Chinese coaches later revealed that they took time to analyze Sindhu's game. In October, Wang Shixian played at the Yonex French Open Superseries as the 7 seed, she managed to climb her way to the final in getting rid of all her opponents in 2 straight games. Wang showed a great performance and overcame a tough challenge by Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk to win (21–18; 21–18) and grabbed her 1st Superseries title since the Victor Korea Open in 2012. She then lost in the finals of 2013 China Open Super Series Premier & 2013 Hong Kong Super Series to her team-mates Li Xuerui &

respectively. She put up a good show at the 2013 BWF Super Series Finals where she won all her group stage matches against Tai Tzu-ying, Sung Ji-hyun and

Porntip Buranaprasertsuk Porntip Buranaprasertsuk ( th, พรทิพย์ บูรณะประเสริฐสุข; born 24 October 1991) is a Thai badminton player. Buranaprasertsuk won her first Superseries title in 2011 India Open on 1 May 2011, becoming ...

in 2 games. She was favourite to win the semifinal after her repeat clash with Tai again. But this time, she suffered defeat, with very narrow margins in 3 tense games.

2014

She made her way to the final of the

2014 Malaysia Super Series Premier The 2014 Malaysia Super Series Premier was the second super series tournament of the 2014 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from January 14–19, 2013 and had a total purse of $500,000.Li Xuerui. She then afterwards won her 2nd All England title, in which she defeated the trio of Olympic medallists (Nehwal in quarter-final, Yihan in semifinal & Li Xuerui in the final) which made her victory even more memorable. Meanwhile, Chen Long made his way to the final and the English media seized the occasion to talk about the All England as the fulfillment of the love affair of Chen and Shixian. However, both of them confessed in an interview that they didn't know what went on in England and it was embarrassing to mix their professional relationship and private life in order to make the buzz. In the

2014 India Super Series The 2014 India Super Series was the fourth super series tournament of the 2014 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in New Delhi, India from 1–6 April 2014 and had a total purse of $250,000. A qualification was held to fill four places ...

, even though Wang faced tough opponents as she was reckoned as the player who's been on court the longest time that to say almost six hours, she won the title, beating Li Xuerui yet again 22–20, 21-19. In an Interview Shixian said "It's all about beating the others so as long as China wins we're happy" which shows the fair play and the support between players. She also settled for the silver medal in

2014 Badminton Asia Championships The 2014 Badminton Asia Championships was the 33rd edition of the Badminton Asia Championships The Badminton Asia Championships (formerly Asian Badminton Championships until 2006) is a tournament organized by governing body Badminton Asia to cr ...

where she lost to

who was playing in front of her home crowd. Wang was second-seeded in the

2014 BWF World Championships The 2014 BWF World Championships was a badminton tournament which was held from 25 to 31 August 2014 at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. Host city selection Copenhagen and Macau submitted bids for this of championships. Both citie ...

and was one of the favourites to win the tournament. But she was again defeated in a thrilling quarter-final match against

, a player to whom Wang lost to in the previous year. In September Wang played in the team event of the Asian games. She and her team won the gold medal beating the Korean team 3–0. However, she didn't get selected in the individual event. In October, Wang Shixian retained her French title, her third superseries title of the year, after Li Xuerui retired in the 2nd game, 21–15, 8–5. Wang Shixian qualified in first place for the year end Super Series Finals staged for the first time in Dubai. She lost all three of her round-robin matches in straight sets and exited the tournament.

2015–2016

2015 proved disappointing year for Wang, as she was stopped in the semifinals of many tournaments. In her quarter-final at the

2015 Malaysia Super Series Premier The 2015 Malaysia Super Series Premier was the third super series tournament of the 2015 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 31–April 5, 2015 and had a total purse of $500,000. A 2015 Malaysia Super S ...

, she played the longest ever Women's singles badminton match against

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 Cham ...

, which lasted for 1 hours & 51 minutes. Wang won that encounter and Okuhara was left cramping in that historic match. She did have final appearances at the

2015 Australian Super Series The 2015 Australian Super Series was the fifth Super Series tournament of the 2015 BWF Super Series in badminton. The tournament was held in Sydney, Australia from 26 to 31 May 2015 with a total purse of $750,000. Players by nation Men's sin ...

and 2015 French Super Series, both of them being lost to

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 ...

. She was also a quarterfinalist at the

2015 BWF World Championships The 2015 BWF World Championships was a badminton tournament which was held from 10 to 16 August 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Host city selection Jakarta and Kunshan submitted bids to host the championships. Jakarta was awarded to host the event by ...

, where she lost to Marín again. In the 2014 BWF Super Series Finals, she won only one match (against

) & lost other 2 group matches which denied her advancement in the semifinals. In 2016, she paddled off the year with the runner-up finish at the 2016 German Open Grand Prix Gold where she lost to Li Xuerui. In her overall 3rd final at the All England Open, Wang was beaten by

in a controversial 3-gamer, in which she lost a close 11–21, 21–16, 19–21 match. In the 2016 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold, she made her way to the final before losing to local star Tai Tzu-ying in the final. Just like the last Olympics, Shixian again failed to participate in the 2016 Olympics, as Chinese team selected higher ranked

as a 2nd qualifier from China, another already confirmed player was the defending Olympic champion Li Xuerui. She subsequently decided to take retirement from the professional badminton.

Personal life

Wang graduated from the

Nanjing University of Finance and Economics The Nanjing University of Finance & Economics (NUFE; ), colloquially abbreviated as Nancai (), is a public university located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. As indicated in its name, the university specializes in financial and economic disciplines, ...

with a bachelor's degree. After retirement she finished a master's degree in sports education at the

Beijing Sports University Beijing Sport University (BSU) (), formerly known as "Central Institute of Physical Education" () and "Beijing Institute of Physical Education" (), is a nation-level public university located in Beijing, China. It is one of the National Key Univ ...

where she has taught since 2020. She married former teammate

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 ...

in 2017, after over a decade together. She gave birth to a son in June 2019. As a child she attended a

sports school A sports school (russian: Детско-Юношеская Спортивная Школа, ДЮСШ) is a type of educational institution for children that originated in the Soviet Union. Sports schools were the basis of the powerful system of p ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

province. The boy who sat next to her during classes was

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player Xu Xin.

Achievements

BWF World Championships

''Women's singles''

Asian Games

''Women's singles''

Asian Championships

''Women's singles''

East Asian Games

''Women's singles''

BWF World Junior Championships

''Girls' singles''

BWF Superseries (12 titles, 11 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by

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 membe ...

(BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end. ''Women'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 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the

BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. ''Women's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

Performance timeline

Singles performance timeline

''To avoid confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through

2016 All England Super Series Premier The 2016 All England Super Series Premier was the first Super Series tournament of the 2016 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in Birmingham, England, from March 8–13, 2016, and had a total purse of $550,000.Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Shixian 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Suzhou Badminton players from Jiangsu Chinese female badminton players Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players 20th-century Chinese women 21st-century Chinese women