Chen Long

Chen Long (Mandarin pronunciation: ; born 18 January 1989), is a Chinese former professional badminton player.

Born in Shashi District, Jingzhou, Hubei Province, Chen had shown his talent as a badminton player when he was young, and entered the Sports School in Jingzhou at the age of seven in 1996.

In 2000, he joined the Xiamen team, and was selected to join the national youth team in 2005.

In 2006, Chen entered the national second team.

He started his achievements in the international stage by winning the boys' singles title in the Asian and World Junior Championships in 2007, and then won his first professional tournament in the Philippines Open in 2009.

Chen emerged as an Asian Junior Champion in 2007, and at the same year, he won the World Junior Championships.

He also helped the Chinese team won the 2007 Suhandinata Cup.

In 2008, Chen was selected to join the national first team.

Chen won his first professional title at the Grand Prix Gold event in the 2009 Philippines Open, beating Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the final.

Chen participated in the Korea Open Super Series in January.

He made it through to the semi-finals before losing to Danish player Peter Gade in three games, 13–21, 21–10, 17–21.

A week later, in the Malaysia Open, he lost in the opening round to Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand.

In March, at the German Open, Chen lost in the final to his teammate, Bao Chunlai in two straight games.

Chen was part of the Chinese team that won gold at the 2010 Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

He only featured in their opening match against Peru, taking just 31 minutes to beat his opponent, before being replaced in the team by Bao Chunlai for the later rounds.

Chen's first individual title of 2010 came at the Bitburger Open in Germany, where he beat Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21–3, 12–21, 21–9 in the final of the Grand Prix Gold event.

His good form continued when he finished runner-up to teammate Lin Dan at the China Masters two weeks later, going down 15–21, 21–13, 14–21 to the reigning Olympic champion.

Chen obtained a second team gold medal of the year with China at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, but did not feature in the individual event.

More success followed when he won the China Open Super Series two weeks later.

His passage to the final included a controversial walkover by Lin Dan in the quarter-finals and a hard-fought victory over current World champion Chen Jin in the semi-finals.

In the final, he squared off against teammate Bao Chunlai, emerging as the victor after 75 minutes of play.

Chen's attempt at back-to-back Super Series titles came to an end at the hands of former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open the following week.

Chen's strong finish to the year saw his world ranking rise to a career-high of 4th, briefly becoming the top ranked Chinese player.

In the first tournament of the new season, Chen Long was convincingly beaten by world number 1 Lee Chong Wei in the semi-final of the Malaysia Open.

It took just 39 minutes for the Malaysian to blow away the upcoming Chinese star with a score of 21–9, 21–9.

The effects of the demoralising defeat were still evident a week later when Chen lost in the second round of the Korea Open to Japanese player Kenichi Tago.

His first individual title of the year came at the Thailand Open, where he beat experienced Korean player Lee Hyun-il in the final.

In August, Chen was eliminated in the first round of the World Championships by unheralded Guatemalan player Kevin Cordón in what was one of the shock results of the tournament.

Cordón emerged the victor after clinching the third set 27–25 in a thrilling encounter.

Chen sprang back from his shock exit from the World Championships by winning his first China Masters title after defeating his compatriot Chen Jin in the final.

A week later, he won his first Japan Open by avenging his Malaysia Open loss to world number 1 Lee Chong Wei in the final.

In October, Chen won his third consecutive Super Series tournament with another victory over Lee Chong Wei, this time in the final of the Denmark Open in its first year as a Premier Super Series event.

His highlights of the season were followed by an exit from the semi-finals of Hong Kong Open to his senior, Chen Jin and failure to defend his China Open title after losing to his compatriot, Lin Dan, in the final.

He ended year 2011 with another runner-up in Super Series Master Finals, being beaten by Lin Dan again.

In January, Chen reached the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open, where he lost to the home favorite, Lee Chong Wei in three games, 18-21, 21-17, 13-21.

In March, he participated in the All England Open and was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Kenichi Tago.

Chen was a former World number 1, occupying the top men's singles ranking for 76 consecutive weeks from December 2014 to June 2016.

He is the 2016 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and an Asian champion.

At the All England Open, he registered an impressive victory over 8th seed Jan Ø. Jørgensen in the first round but fell to Korea's Son Wan-ho 18–21, 21–18, 19–21 in the second round.

He followed up this disappointment with his best-ever performance in a Super Series event by making it through to the final of the Swiss Open, where he finished runner-up to compatriot Chen Jin.