Xie Xingfang

Xie Xingfang (born September 8, 1981) is a retired Chinese badminton player from Guangzhou, Guangdong. She is a former two-time world champion for women's singles, and former women's singles World No. 1.

Her first big title was in girls' doubles, with her provincial teammate Zhang Jiewen, at the World Junior Championships in 1998. She has also won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in mixed doubles with Cai Yun. However, once she entered the Chinese national team, she switched to singles. 2004 was her "break-out" year, as she won several top tier titles on the world circuit. Xie and her senior compatriot and rival Zhang Ning were the most dominant international women's singles players of the middle and late parts of the decade, though they were pressed by younger teammates such as Zhu Lin, Lu Lan, Jiang Yanjiao and Wang Yihan. Due to her height and slender figure, she is regarded to have elegant movement. Xie's strengths were her reach, quickness, consistency, and court sense. She was a member of China's world champion Uber Cup teams of 2004, 2006, and 2008.

Her last appearance as a player in a major badminton competition came at the National Games of China in October 2009.

During most of her badminton career Xie was romantically involved with fellow Chinese badminton star Lin Dan. In 2006 Xie and Lin won their respective women's and men's singles titles at the IBF World Championships in Madrid. Xie had also won the world title in 2005 when Lin finished second to Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat. Xie Xingfang and Lin Dan were married in Guangzhou, China, on 13 December 2010, after seven years of dating. She is also a mother of a son, Lin Xiao Yu, who was born on 5 November 2016.

Achievements

Olympic Games Women's singles

World Championships Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2009 Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India Lu Lan 21–23, 12–21 Silver Silver 2006 Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain Zhang Ning 21–16, 21–14 Gold Gold 2005 Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, United States Zhang Ning 11–8, 9–11, 11–3 Gold Gold

World Cup Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2006 Olympic Park, Yiyang, China Wang Yihan 18–21, 19–21 Silver Silver 2005 Olympic Park, Yiyang, China Zhang Ning 21–19, 21–16 Gold Gold

Asian Games Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2006 Aspire Hall 3, Doha, Qatar Wang Chen 17–21, 21–17, 16–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2009 Suwon Indoor Stadium, Suwon, South Korea Zhu Lin 11–21, 10–21 Silver Silver 2000 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Ellen Angelina 2–11, 11–7, 11–3 Gold Gold

World Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1998 Sports and Aquatic Centre,Melbourne, Australia Zhang Jiewen Gong Ruina Huang Sui 3–15, 15–13, 15–10 Gold Gold

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1998 Sports and Aquatic Centre,Melbourne, Australia Cai Yun Chan Chong Ming Joanne Quay 4–15, 3–15 Bronze Bronze

Asian Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1999 National Indoor Stadium – 1,Yangon, Myanmar Zhang Jiewen Li Yujia Wei Yili 15–9, 15–6 Gold Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dong Fang Jun Woul-sik Lee Hyo-jung 3–15, 8–15 Bronze Bronze

BWF Superseries The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.

Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2009 Singapore Open Zhou Mi 19–21, 21–18, 10–21 Runner-up 2008 Hong Kong Open Wang Chen 16–21, 21–10, 10–21 Runner-up 2008 French Open Wang Lin 18–21, 21–13, 11–21 Runner-up 2008 Swiss Open Zhang Ning 21–18, 21–17 Winner 2007 Hongkong Open Zhu Lin 21–19, 21–14 Winner 2007 China Open Wong Mew Choo 16–21, 21–8, 17–21 Runner-up 2007 French Open Pi Hongyan 21–13, 21–13 Winner 2007 Japan Open Tine Rasmussen 15–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2007 China Masters Zhang Ning 21–11, 8–21, 23–21 Winner 2007 Singapore Open Zhang Ning 18–21, 21–19, 3–21 Runner-up 2007 All England Open Pi Hongyan 21–6, 21–13 Winner 2007 Korea Open Zhu Lin 21–14, 21–7 Winner BWF Superseries tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries Finals tournament

BWF Grand Prix The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation since 1983.

Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2008 Thailand Open Lu Lan 26–24, 21–7 Winner 2007 Macau Open Jun Jae-youn 21–10, 21–10 Winner 2007 German Open Huaiwen Xu 19–21, 21–12, 21–19 Winner 2006 Japan Open Zhang Ning 11–21, 21–16, 29–30 Runner-up 2006 Hongkong Open Zhang Ning Walkover Winner 2006 Chinese Taipei Open Zhang Ning 15–21, 15–21 Runner-up 2006 China Masters Wang Lin 21–15, 13–21, 15–21 Runner-up 2006 All England Open Zhang Ning 11–6, 4–11, 11–2 Winner 2005 China Open Zhang Ning 11–3, 4–11, 8–11 Runner-up 2005 Hongkong Open Zhang Ning 4–11, 11–1, 6–11 Runner-up 2005 Japan Open Zhang Ning 7–11, 8–11 Runner-up 2005 All England Open Zhang Ning 11–3, 11–9 Winner 2005 German Open Zhang Ning 11–5, 11–4 Winner 2004 Indonesia Open Eriko Hirose 11–8, 11–0 Winner 2004 China Open Wang Chen 5–11, 11–3, 11–4 Winner 2004 German Open Xu Huaiwen 9–11, 11–6, 11–7 Winner 2004 Denmark Open Yao Jie 11–9, 8–11, 11–7 Winner 2003 Indonesia Open Wang Chen 11–6, 8–11, 11–1 Winner 2003 Japan Open Camilla Martin 1–11, 5–11 Runner-up 2003 All England Open Zhou Mi 6–11, 5–11 Runner-up 1999 Hong Kong Open Ling Wan Ting 7–11, 11–7, 11–4 Winner BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF International Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2002 French International Wang Rong 7–3, 7–2, 7–1 Winner

Record against selected opponents Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost / Huang Chia-chi 2 2 0 +2 Petya Nedelcheva 3 3 0 +3 Dai Yun 3 1 2 –1 Gong Ruina 6 3 3 0 Gong Zhichao 1 0 1 –1 Lu Lan 12 9 3 +6 Wang Lin 5 2 3 –1 Wang Yihan 5 3 2 +1 Zhang Ning 23 11 12 –1 Zhu Lin 6 5 1 +4 Cheng Shao-chieh 5 3 2 +1 Tine Baun 12 11 1 +10 Camilla Martin 5 2 3 –1 Tracey Hallam 9 8 1 +7

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Pi Hongyan 10 9 1 +8 Petra Overzier 2 2 0 +2 Juliane Schenk 4 4 0 +4 Xu Huaiwen 9 9 0 +9 / Wang Chen 9 7 2 +5 Yip Pui Yin 4 3 1 +2 / Zhou Mi 12 3 9 –6 Saina Nehwal 2 2 0 +2 Maria Kristin Yulianti 2 2 0 +2 Wong Mew Choo 8 6 2 +4 / Mia Audina 6 6 0 +6 Bae Yeon-ju 1 1 0 +1 Kim Ji-hyun 1 0 1 –1