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

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

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. They were contemporaries and rivals of the famous Korean pair Park Joo-bong 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 in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991. They also played on Chinese

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as 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 ...

(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, and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. 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 (28 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

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Yongbo 1962 births Living people Badminton players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Badminton players from Dalian Olympic badminton players for 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 sportsmen