Ye Zhaoying

Ye Zhaoying (; born 7 May 1974) is a retired badminton player from Hangzhou, China. Officially ranked as the number one women's singles player in the world for the first time in December 1995, she lost and regained that ranking several times during her career. Her best years as a player overlapped those of the slightly older Susi Susanti and Bang Soo-hyun, in what some see as a "golden" era in women's badminton.

She retired after the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and in 2002, she started a new career as a golfer, trained at the Tian An Golf Club. As of present, she and Hao reside in Málaga, Spain.

Political views and controversy On the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in 2020, Hao uploaded a video calling for the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party. Afterwards the couple's Weibo accounts were deleted; their online profiles on major portals in China – Sina Sports, Tencent Sport and Baidu – have also been deleted. They moved to Spain, living in exile.

In response, the Chinese embassy in Denmark issued a statement, stating that Ye "has always been anti-China. Her statements don't deserve a response."

After the entire incident in 2020, family and friends have turned their backs on Hao and Ye, and that they have been blocked by their former teammates on Chinese social messaging platform WeChat.

Achievements

Olympic Games Women's singles

World Championships Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1997 Scotstoun Centre, Glasgow, Scotland Gong Zhichao 12–11, 11–8 Gold Gold 1995 Malley Sports Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland Han Jingna 11–7, 11–0 Gold Gold 1993 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England Susi Susanti 10–12, 10–12 Bronze Bronze

World Cup Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1997 Among Rogo Sports Hall, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Susi Susanti 8–11, 5–11 Silver Silver 1996 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Susi Susanti 2–11, 11–9, 2–11 Bronze Bronze 1995 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Susi Susanti 12–9, 2–11, 12–9 Gold Gold 1994 Phan Đình Phùng Indoor Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Bang Soo-hyun 2–11, 4–11 Bronze Bronze 1993 Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi, India Lim Xiaoqing 2–11, 11–2, 6–11 Bronze Bronze

Asian Games Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1994 Tsuru Memorial Gymnasium, Hiroshima, Japan Bang Soo Hyun 12–10, 8–11, 3–11 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1999 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Zhang Ning 11–8, 11–5 Gold Gold 1998 Bangkok, Thailand Gong Zhichao 11–5, 13–12 Gold Gold 1995 Beijing, China Yao Yan 11–2, 11–0 Gold Gold 1994 Shanghai Gymnasium, Shanghai, China Liu Yuhong 11–4, 12–10 Gold Gold 1992 Cheras Indoor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Zhou Lei 12–10, 11–2 Gold Gold

Asian Cup Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1994 Beijing, China Han Jingna 11–6, 9–12, 11–3 Gold Gold

IBF World Grand Prix (21 titles, 21 runners-up) The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2000 Thailand Open Zhou Mi 11–5, 11–0 Winner 2000 Japan Open Gong Zhichao 7–11, 3–11 Runner-up 1999 Grand Prix Finals Dai Yun 11–4, 6–11, 11–9 Winner 1999 Singapore Open Gong Zhichao 11–5, 5–11, 11–7 Winner 1999 Japan Open Gong Zhichao 1–11, 11–5, 11–6 Winner 1999 All England Open Dai Yun 9–11, 11–5, 11–1 Winner 1998 Denmark Open Camilla Martin 10–13, 8–11 Runner-up 1998 Singapore Open Susi Susanti 11–5, 6–11, 11–2 Winner 1998 Swiss Open Camilla Martin 9–12, 8–11 Runner-up 1998 All England Open Zhang Ning 11–5, 11–8 Winner 1998 Japan Open Gong Zhichao 1–11, 4–11 Runner-up 1997 Grand Prix Finals Susi Susanti 11–4, 11–4 Winner 1997 Malaysia Open Susi Susanti 5–11, 7–11 Runner-up 1997 Swiss Open Camilla Martin 12–9, 6–11, 5–11 Runner-up 1997 All England Open Gong Zhichao 11–3, 11–1 Winner 1997 Korea Open Gong Zhichao 6–11, 12–10, 11–4 Winner 1996 Grand Prix Finals Susi Susanti 4–11, 1–11 Runner-up 1996 All England Open Bang Soo-hyun 1–11, 1–11 Runner-up 1996 Japan Open Susi Susanti 11–7, 11–8 Winner 1996 Chinese Taipei Open Susi Susanti 5–11, 2–11 Runner-up 1995 Grand Prix Finals Lim Xiaoqing 12–10, 8–11, 11–8 Winner 1995 China Open Bang Soo-hyun 11–5, 11–0 Winner 1995 U.S. Open Bang Soo-hyun 12–10, 3–11, 11–8 Winner 1995 Swedish Open Lim Xiaoqing 11–6, 11–6 Winner 1994 Grand Prix Finals Susi Susanti 11–4, 10–12, 4–11 Runner-up 1994 China Open Bang Soo-hyun 8–11, 8–11 Runner-up 1994 Malaysia Open Susi Susanti 3–11, 8–11 Runner-up 1994 All England Open Susi Susanti 5–11, 9–11 Runner-up 1994 Japan Open Susi Susanti 6–11, 12–10, 8–11 Runner-up 1993 Grand Prix Finals Susi Susanti 3–11, 9–12 Runner-up 1993 Hong Kong Open Han Jingna 10–12, 11–7, 11–1 Winner 1993 China Open Han Jingna 10–12, 1–11 Runner-up 1993 Denmark Open Liu Yuhong 11–8, 11–1 Winner 1993 German Open Susi Susanti 6–11, 8–11 Runner-up 1993 Indonesia Open Susi Susanti 11–9, 12–11 Winner 1993 French Open Yao Yan 7–11, 11–5, 5–11 Runner-up 1993 Japan Open Bang Soo-hyun 11–6, 11–5 Winner 1992 Singapore Open Han Jingna 8–11, 11–2, 11–3 Winner 1992 Indonesia Open Sarwendah Kusumawardhani 11–7, 11–6 Winner 1992 Japan Open Susi Susanti 2–11, 0–11 Runner-up

Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 1997 Swiss Open Han Jingna Ge Fei Gu Jun 15–9, 2–15, 11–15 Runner-up 1995 Swedish Open Han Jingna Kim Mee-hyang Kim Shin-young 15–12, 12–15, 8–15 Runner-up

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

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Dai Yun 10 9 1 +8 Gong Ruina 4 3 1 +2 Gong Zhichao 12 9 3 +6 Han Jingna 6 5 1 +4 Tang Jiuhong 1 0 1 –1 Yao Yan 3 1 2 –1 Zhang Ning 4 4 0 +4 Zhou Mi 2 2 0 +2 Huang Chia-chi 3 3 0 +3 Camilla Martin 9 6 3 +3 Mette Sørensen 3 3 0 +3

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Helen Troke 1 1 0 +1 Xu Huaiwen 3 3 0 +3 Sarwendah Kusumawardhani 2 2 0 +2 Susi Susanti 34 11 23 –12 Yasuko Mizui 5 5 0 +5 / Mia Audina 8 5 3 +2 Bang Soo-hyun 17 9 8 +1 Kim Ji-hyun 14 11 3 +8 Lee Heung-soon 4 3 1 +2 Lim Xiaoqing 4 2 2 0 Somharuthai Jaroensiri 5 5 0 +5