Liu Yuchen ( zh, s=刘雨辰, p=Liú Yǔchén, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese

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. He was the men's doubles World Champion in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, two-time Asian Champion in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

, and also a silver medalist at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

partnered with Li Junhui. Liu was part of the national team that won the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

, 2018 Thomas Cup, and

2019 Sudirman Cup The 2019 Sudirman Cup (officially known as the 2019 Total BWF Sudirman Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th edition of the Sudirman Cup, the biennial international badminton championship contested by the mixed national teams of the member a ...

. Together with Li, he achieved the men's doubles world number 1 on 6 April 2017, and occupied the top ranking for ten weeks.See also: Number one ranked players timeline.

Career

Liu competed at the

. Partnered with Li Junhui, he won a silver medal in the men's doubles after being defeated by Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei in the final in straight games, 18–21, 12–21. Following the loss, he and Li received immense backlash from Chinese netizens for being unable to win the gold medal. In 2022, Liu started a new partnership with Ou Xuanyi after Li Junhui's retirement. In the Indonesia Open, the duo beat Korea's Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho to become the first men's doubles pair from the reserves’ list to win a Super 1000 title. They qualified to compete at the World Tour Finals and emerged victorious after beating

Mohammad Ahsan Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian retired badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is a three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games go ...

and Hendra Setiawan in the final. In 2023, Liu and Ou helped the Chinese national team reach the

final round A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tourn ...

. Facing former world no. 1 pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semi-finals while Japan was leading the tie 2–1, Liu and Ou saved four match points being down 16–20 in the deciding set and converted their first to keep China alive in the tie. They eventually got into the final. Liu said after the match, "We didn’t think too much. We played each point. We kept doing what we did towards the end. It’s unbelievable." After compatriot and world no. 1 Jia Yifan won the deciding rubber, she stated, "We wouldn’t be here if not for the men’s doubles, they did a great job." Ultimately, the Chinese national team went on to win the 2023 Sudirman Cup. Liu competed at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, but failed to make it into the knockout tournament. Some fans and commentators have attributed Liu pair's absence from the knockout tournament to his group being ridiculously stacked compared to the other groups. In addition, Kim Astrup, whose pair was in the same group as Liu's, remarked that making it into the quarter-finals from their group deserved a medal on its own due to how loaded their group was. On 19 August 2024, Liu announced his retirement from international badminton.

Personal life

His sister, Liu Jing, is a swimmer. Liu is often jokingly called Hendra Setiawan's 'eldest son' by fans, due to his public admiration towards the elder shuttler and his closeness with Setiawan's family. Liu himself has acknowledged the joke in an Instagram post with Setiawan's family during the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta. Liu's father is the coach of the Beijing Municipal women's Badminton team. His mother has also coached the Beijing badminton team. On 2 August 2024, Liu proposed to his girlfriend, fellow Chinese badminton player and 2020 Olympic silver medalist

Huang Yaqiong Huang Yaqiong (, born 28 February 1994) is a Chinese badminton player who specializes in doubles. She is an Olympic gold medalist, three-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time Asian Champion. She also won a silv ...

, right after she received her gold medal at the

Adidas Arena The Adidas Arena (also known by its project name Paris Arena II) is a multi-purpose and modular hall located in Quartier de La Chapelle, La Chapelle neighborhood of Paris (18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement). The arena has a capa ...

, Paris, which she accepted.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Men's doubles''

BWF World Championships

''Men's doubles''

Asian Games

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles''

BWF World Junior Championships

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

Asian Junior Championships

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

BWF World Tour (7 titles, 7 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, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

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

BWF Superseries (2 titles, 3 runners-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 doubles'' : BWF Superseries Finals 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, S ...

tournament

BWF Grand Prix (7 titles, 2 runners-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 doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 runners-up)

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

Note

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Yuchen 1995 births Living people Badminton players from Beijing Chinese male badminton players Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for China Olympic silver medalists for China Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players