Shi Yuqi

Shi Yuqi (Mandarin pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1996) is a Chinese badminton player.

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.

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.

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 of India in the round of 32 after a three-game battle that lasted for 65 mins.

In the 2013 edition of the Asian Junior Badminton Championships, 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, 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 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 Asian Junior Badminton Championships.

He first helped China defend its mixed team title by sweeping South Korea 3–0 in the final.

In the boys' singles event that followed, he advanced to the final, where he defeated Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in three games 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 in the final.

In August, at the Youth Olympic Games, he won the boys' singles gold after avenging his defeat to Lin Guipu at the World Junior Championships final by defeating him 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 of South Korea in three games.

Shi won his first Superseries title in the 2016 French Open.

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 after his compatriot Huang Yuxiang 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 next, beating Lee Hyun-il of South Korea in two straight games.

Shi then continued his rich veins of form by winning the Bitburger Open, beating India's Sourabh Varma in the final.

At the 2017 All England Open, he defeated 6-time champion Lin Dan 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.

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 Lin Dan in the semi-finals.

He, however, would lose in the final to Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in two straight games.

Shi reached another final at the Swiss Open, but lost tamely to Lin Dan in the final this time around.

In April, he competed in the Asian Championships and finished with a bronze medal after losing to compatriot Chen Long in the semi-finals.

In August, Shi participated in his maiden World Championships but was knocked out by Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki in the third round.

At the year-end World Superseries Finals, he lost in the semi-finals to Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.

He also won a silver medal at the 2018 World Championships.

2018 was probably Shi's best season to date.