Liu Yuchen

Liu Yuchen (, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018, two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018, and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnered with Li Junhui. Liu was part of the national team that won the 2018 Asian Games, 2018 Thomas Cup, and 2019 Sudirman Cup. Together with Li, he achieved the men's doubles world number 1 on 6 April 2017, and occupied the top ranking for ten weeks.

Career Liu competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. 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.

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 and Hendra Setiawan in the final.

In 2023, Liu and Ou helped the Chinese national team reach the final round of the Sudirman Cup. 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, 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. His farewell party was held after the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou.

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, right after she received her gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Adidas Arena, Paris, which she accepted. One year after the proposal, the couple shared on Weibo that they had registered their marriage.

Achievements

Olympic Games Men's doubles

Asian Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2018 Istora Gelora Bung Karno,Jakarta, Indonesia Li Junhui Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto 14–21, 21–19, 13–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2014 Gimcheon Indoor Stadium,Gimcheon, South Korea Li Junhui Shin Baek-cheol Yoo Yeon-seong 20–22, 17–21 Silver Silver 2016 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium,Wuhan, China Li Junhui Lee Yong-dae Yoo Yeon-seong 14–21, 26–28 Silver Silver 2017 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium,Wuhan, China Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Wang Yilyu 21–14, 21–12 Gold Gold 2013 Hua Mark Indoor Stadium,Bangkok, Thailand Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Zheng Siwei 14–21, 21–13, 22–20 Gold Gold

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2012 Chiba Port Arena,Chiba, Japan Chen Qingchen Edi Subaktiar Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21–14, 18–21, 11–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Junior Championships Boys' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2013 Likas Indoor Stadium,Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Zheng Siwei 21–15, 21–14 Gold Gold

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref

is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (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 Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result 2018 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Li Junhui Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 21–11, 10–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2018 Japan Open Super 750 Li Junhui Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 11–21, 13–21 Runner-up 2018 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Li Junhui Hiroyuki Endo Yuta Watanabe 21–15, 21–11 Winner 2019 Malaysia Open Super 750 Li Junhui Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda 21–12, 21–17 Winner 2019 Thailand Open Super 500 Li Junhui Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Chirag Shetty 19–21, 21–18, 18–21 Runner-up 2019 Macau Open Super 300 Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Liu Cheng 21–8, 18–21, 22–20 Winner 2020 Malaysia Masters Super 500 Li Junhui Kim Gi-jung Lee Yong-dae 14–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2022 German Open Super 300 Ou Xuanyi Goh Sze Fei Nur Izzuddin 21–23, 21–16, 14–21 Runner-up 2022 Korea Masters Super 300 Ou Xuanyi Kim Gi-jung Kim Sa-rang 14–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2022 Indonesia Open Super 1000 Ou Xuanyi Choi Sol-gyu Kim Won-ho 21–17, 23–21 Winner 2022 Australian Open Super 300 Ou Xuanyi Ong Yew Sin Teo Ee Yi 21–16, 22–20 Winner 2022 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Ou Xuanyi Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan 21–17, 19–21, 21–12 Winner 2023 Hylo Open Super 300 Ou Xuanyi Lee Yang Wang Chi-lin 24–22, 21–13 Winner 2023 Japan Masters Super 500 Ou Xuanyi He Jiting Ren Xiangyu 14–21, 21–15, 15–21 Runner-up

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 Badminton World Federation (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 Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2016 Japan Open Li Junhui Kim Gi-jung Ko Sung-hyun 21–12, 21–12 Winner 2016 Korea Open Li Junhui Lee Yong-dae Yoo Yeon-seong 21–15, 20–22, 18–21 Runner-up 2017 All England Open Li Junhui Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 19–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2017 Singapore Open Li Junhui Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 13–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2017 Indonesia Open Li Junhui Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 21–19, 19–21, 21–18 Winner BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries 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 Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2013 New Zealand Open Li Junhui Angga Pratama Rian Agung Saputro 6–21, 20–22 Runner-up 2014 India Grand Prix Gold Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Zheng Siwei 21–17, 19–21, 22–20 Winner 2014 Chinese Taipei Open Li Junhui Andrei Adistia Hendra Aprida Gunawan 14–21, 21–16, 16–21 Runner-up 2015 China Masters Li Junhui Wang Yilyu Zhang Wen 21–15, 19–21, 21–12 Winner 2015 U.S. Open Li Junhui Manu Attri B. Sumeeth Reddy 21–12, 21–16 Winner 2015 Canada Open Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Wang Sijie 17–21, 21–12, 21–18 Winner 2015 Vietnam Open Li Junhui Huang Kaixiang Wang Sijie 21–8, 21–16 Winner 2016 Chinese Taipei Open Li Junhui Chen Hung-ling Wang Chi-lin 21–17, 17–21, 24–22 Winner

Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2014 Chinese Taipei Open Yu Xiaohan Alfian Eko Prasetya Annisa Saufika 21–16, 21–18 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 runners-up) Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2015 China International Li Junhui Wang Yilyu Zhang Wen 10–21, 20–22 Runner-up

Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2015 China International Yu Xiaohan Zheng Siwei Chen Qingchen 21–15, 12–21, 13–21 Runner-up BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament

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