Wei Yili

Wei Yili (; born 24 June 1982) is a former badminton player from China.

Career A women's doubles specialist, since 2001 Wei has competed on the world circuit in partnership with a variety of her fellow countrywomen, but most often with Zhang Jiewen, Zhao Tingting or Zhang Yawen. A member of China's perennial world champion Uber Cup teams, in the biggest events for individual players (such as the BWF World Championships, the All-England Championships, and the Olympic Games) Wei and her partners have usually been overshadowed by China's two dominant women's doubles pairs, Gao Ling and Huang Sui, and Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen. One exception came at the 2007 All-Englands where Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen defeated both of these teams to capture the highly coveted title. Her other women's doubles titles include the China (2001), Singapore (2001, 2007), Denmark (2002, 2004), Thailand (2003), Indonesia (2006), and French (2007) Opens.

Wei has medaled four times at the BWF World Championships without "striking gold". She earned a silver with Zhang Jiewen in 2001, a silver with Zhao Tingting in 2003, a silver with Zhang Yawen in 2006, and a bronze with Zhang Yawen in 2007. She finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics in Athens with Zhao Tingting. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics Wei and Zhang Yawen were beaten in the semifinals by yet another Chinese pair, Du Jing and Yu Yang, who went on to win the gold medal. Wei and Zhang earned a bronze medal by defeating Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna in the playoff for third place.

In 2008, Wei retired from the national team. She received an award during a ceremony to mark her retirement with five other teammates from the Chinese national badminton team on the sidelines of the China Open badminton event in Shanghai, November 23, 2008. However, she was still playing a year later by partnering with Gao Ling. They lost to Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen in the Thailand Open final of 2009, but won the Philippines Open of 2009.

Achievements

Olympic Games Women's doubles

BWF World Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2001 Palacio de Deportes de San Pablo, Seville, Spain Zhang Jiewen Gao Ling Huang Sui 11–15, 15–17 Silver Silver 2003 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England Zhao Tingting Gao Ling Huang Sui 8–15, 11–15 Silver Silver 2006 Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain Zhang Yawen Gao Ling Huang Sui 21–23, 9–21 Silver Silver 2007 Putra Indoor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 21–19, 18–21, 16–21 Bronze Bronze

World Cup Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2005 Olympic Park, Yiyang, China Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 18–21, 15–21 Silver Silver

Asian Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2002 Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand Zhao Tingting Gao Ling Huang Sui 5–11, 1–11 Bronze Bronze

World Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2000 Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Zhang Yawen Li Yujia Zhao Tingting 4–7, 7–2, 7–0, 7–1 Gold Gold

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2000 Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Zheng Bo Sang Yang Zhang Yawen 3–7, 0–7, 6–8 Silver Silver

Asian Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1999 National Indoor Stadium – 1, Yangon, Myanmar Li Yujia Xie Xingfang Zhang Jiewen 9–15, 6–15 Silver Silver 2000 Nishiyama Park Gymnasium, Kyoto, Japan Zhang Yawen Li Yujia Zhao Tingting 15–12, 15–5 Gold Gold

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1999 National Indoor Stadium – 1, Yangon, Myanmar Zheng Bo Hendri Kurniawan Saputra Enny Erlangga 12–15, 16–17 Silver Silver 2000 Nishiyama Park Gymnasium, Kyoto, Japan Zheng Bo Sang Yang Zhang Yawen Walkover Gold Gold

BWF Superseries The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.

Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2007 All England Open Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 21–16, 8–21, 24–22 Winner 2007 Singapore Open Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhao Tingting 10–21, 21–19, 21–18 Winner 2007 French Open Zhang Yawen Yu Yang Zhao Tingting 21–10, 21–15 Winner 2007 Hong Kong Open Zhang Yawen Du Jing Yu Yang 20–22, 21–13, 17–21 Runner-up 2008 Swiss Open Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 18–21, 24–22, 8–21 Runner-up BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.

Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2000 Denmark Open Zhang Jiewen Chen Lin Jiang Xuelian 7–15, 3–15 Runner-up 2001 All England Open Zhang Jiewen Gao Ling Huang Sui 15–10, 8–15, 9–15 Runner-up 2001 Singapore Open Zhang Jiewen Zhang Yawen Zhao Tingting 8–6, 7–3, 7–4 Winner 2001 China Open Zhang Jiewen Huang Nanyan Yang Wei 8–6, 7–3, 6–8, 8–7 Winner 2002 Denmark Open Zhao Tingting Mia Audina Lotte Jonathans 11–3, 6–11, 11–9 Winner 2002 China Open Zhao Tingting Gao Ling Huang Sui 9–11, 3–11 Runner-up 2003 Thailand Open Zhao Tingting Lee Hyo-jung Yim Kyung-jin 11–9, 5–11, 11–6 Winner 2003 Swiss Open Zhao Tingting Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 7–11, 11–6, 4–11 Runner-up 2003 Japan Open Zhao Tingting Gao Ling Huang Sui 13–10, 6–11, 5–11 Runner-up 2004 Japan Open Zhao Tingting Lee Kyung-won Ra Kyung-min 6–15, 15–5, 1–15 Runner-up 2004 Denmark Open Zhao Tingting Zhang Dan Zhang Yawen 15–13, 12–15, 15–7 Winner 2004 German Open Zhao Tingting Zhang Dan Zhang Yawen 8–15, 12–15 Runner-up 2004 China Open Zhao Tingting Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 14–15, 12–15 Runner-up 2005 German Open Zhao Tingting Gao Ling Huang Sui 4–15, 10–15 Runner-up 2005 All England Open Zhao Tingting Gao Ling Huang Sui 10–15, 13–15 Runner-up 2005 Japan Open Zhao Tingting Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 12–15, 2–15 Runner-up 2006 China Masters Zhang Yawen Gao Ling Huang Sui 12–21, 21–18, 14–21 Runner-up 2006 Indonesia Open Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 21–13, 21–13 Winner 2006 Japan Open Zhang Yawen Gao Ling Huang Sui 15–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2006 China Open Zhang Yawen Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 17–21, 7–21 Runner-up 2009 Philippines Open Gao Ling Shendy Puspa Irawati Meiliana Jauhari 21–11, 21–11 Winner 2009 Thailand Open Gao Ling Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen 24–22, 17–21, 15–21 Runner-up BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF International Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2002 French International Zhang Jiewen Zhang Yawen Zhao Tingting 7–1, 7–2, 5–7, 5–7, 2–7 Runner-up