Li Xuerui

In this Chinese name, the family name is Li (李) and Xue (雪) is a generation name.

Li Xuerui (born 24 January 1991) is a retired Chinese professional badminton player. She is one of the most successful players of her time. She was a gold medalist at 2012 London Olympics in the women's singles event and was the silver medalists in the 2013 and 2014 World Championships. Li Xuerui won fourteen Superseries titles, confirming her status as China's second most successful player after Wang Yihan. She reached a career high of no. 1 in the women's singles for 124 weeks. Li graduated with a BA from Huaqiao University.

Li Xuerui 李雪芮
Personal information
Country	China
Born	(1991-01-24) 24 January 1991 Chongqing, China
Residence	Beijing, China
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Years active	Since 2007
Retired	17 October 2019
Handedness	Right
Coach	Chen Jin
Women's singles
Career record	330 wins, 79 losses
Career title(s)	27
Highest ranking	1 (20 December 2012)
Medal record Women's badminton Representing China Olympic Games 2012 London Women's singles World Championships 2013 Guangzhou Women's singles 2014 Copenhagen Women's singles Sudirman Cup 2013 Kuala Lumpur Mixed team 2015 Dongguan Mixed team 2017 Gold Coast Mixed team Uber Cup 2012 Wuhan Women's team 2014 New Delhi Women's team 2016 Kunshan Women's team 2018 Bangkok Women's team Asian Games 2014 Incheon Women's team 2014 Incheon Women's singles Asian Championships 2010 New Delhi Women's singles 2012 Qingdao Women's singles 2013 Taipei Women's singles 2015 Wuhan Women's singles 2016 Wuhan Women's singles World Junior Championships 2007 Waitakere City Mixed team 2008 Pune Mixed team Asian Junior Championships 2008 Kuala Lumpur Girls' singles 2008 Kuala Lumpur Mixed team
BWF profile

Li Xuerui
Traditional Chinese	李雪芮
Simplified Chinese	李雪芮
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Xuěruì

Career summary

Li Xuerui started playing badminton when she was 7 years old. She began playing in local clubs in her hometown in Chongqing. She made her professional debut as a badminton player when she attended the Asia Junior championship which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Li Xuerui at the US Open 2011

2008

In 2008, she won a gold medal at the Asian Junior championship, which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2010

In 2010, Li Xuerui won her first Grand Prix Gold title at the Macau Open, in the final she defeated Adrianti Firdasari from Indonesia with a score of 21–18, 21–15.

Li won her first major tournament, the Asian Championships. In the final, she defeated her compatriot, Liu Xin, 21–13, 18–21, 21–19.

2012

In 2012, she repeated her success at the Asian Championships by defeating Wang Yihan with a score of 21–16, 16–21, 21–9.

Li won the prestigious Super Series Premier event title at the All England Open for the first time by beating Wang Yihan in the final with a score of 21–13, 21–19.

She then captured other international titles in India Open, China Open, and Hong Kong Open.

She collected five Super Series titles, including the Super Series Final in Dubai which she won defeating Wang Shixian in the final.

The 2012 season could be said to be the career peak for Li Xuerui. She made her first appearance at the Olympic Games, and on August 5, she won the London Olympic gold medal, in the final she defeated compatriot Wang Yihan with a score of 21–15, 21–23, 21–17.

2013

In 2013, she won a silver medal in the World Championship when she was defeated by Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the final with a score of 22–20, 18–21, 14–21.

In the same year, she won three Super Series titles in the Indonesia Open, China Open and the Super Series Final.

2014

In 2014, she reached the World Championships final, then she lost to the Spanish player Carolina Marín with a score of 21–17, 17–21, 18–21.

Li managed to win four Super Series titles including successfully defending her title in Indonesia Open, the other titles were: Japan Open, Malaysia Open, and Denmark Open.

2015

In 2015, Li Xuerui managed to defend her title at the Denmark Open. In the final she defeated P. V. Sindhu of India with a score of 21-19, 21-12.

2016 Summer Olympics: heartbreak and injury issues

At the 2016 Summer Olympics women's singles semi-finals, Li Xuerui was defeated by world No. 1 Carolina Marín when she suffered injuries to her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral meniscus. This forced her to withdraw from the bronze medal match against Nozomi Okuhara.

2018: Return to professional badminton

Li made her return to professional badminton at the 2017 National Games of China, where she played women's doubles but lost at the group stage. The reason she had played doubles instead of singles was that she was not yet fully recovered. In 2018, she made her return to international women's singles after a hiatus of 600 days at the 2018 Lingshui China Masters, which she won.

2019

In 2019, she played 25 times with 11 wins and 14 losses. She reached the quarter final at the All England Open, but was stopped by the 2017 World Champion from Japan Nozomi Okuhara with a score of 17–21, 14–21. After that, she finished as the runner-up at the New Zealand Open, losing to South Korean youngster An Se-young with a score of 19–21, 15–21.

She lost to Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-18, 20-22, 6-21 at the Australian Open despite leading in the second game. Afterwards, her career witnessed a huge downfall. She competed in Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and China and lost in the first round in all the tournaments. She announced her retirement from the international circuit in the first round match against Sayaka Takahashi in Korea Open on 17 October after trailing in the 2nd game 15-21, 3-11.

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2012	Wembley Arena, London, Great Britain	Wang Yihan	21–15, 21–23, 21–17	Gold

World Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2013	Tianhe Sports Center, Guangzhou, China	Ratchanok Intanon	20–22, 21–18, 14–21	Silver
2014	Ballerup Super Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark	Carolina Marín	21–17, 17–21, 18–21	Silver

Asian Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Gyeyang Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea	Wang Yihan	21–11, 17–21, 7–21	Silver

Asian Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Siri Fort Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, India	Liu Xin	21–13, 18–21, 21–19	Gold
2012	Qingdao Sports Centre Conson Stadium, Qingdao, China	Wang Yihan	21–16, 16–21, 21–9	Gold
2013	Taipei Arena, Taipei, Taiwan	Wang Yihan	15–21, 13–21	Silver
2015	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Ratchanok Intanon	22–20, 21–23, 12–21	Silver
2016	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Wang Yihan	14–21, 21–13, 16–21	Silver

World University Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Chinese Taipei	Liu Xin	21–12, 21–14	Gold

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Chinese Taipei	Liu Xin	Cheng Shu Ma Jin	Walkover	Silver

Asian Junior Championships

Girls' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2008	Stadium Juara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Wang Shixian	22–20, 21–13	Gold

BWF World Tour

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, 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 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Lingshui China Masters	Super 100	Kim Ga-eun	16–21, 21–16, 21–18	Winner
2018	U.S. Open	Super 300	Beiwen Zhang	24–26, 21–15, 21–11	Winner
2018	Canada Open	Super 100	Sayaka Takahashi	22–20, 15–21, 21–17	Winner
2018	Korea Masters	Super 300	Han Yue	21–10, 21–18	Winner
2019	New Zealand Open	Super 300	An Se-young	19–21, 15–21	Runner-up

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
2010	French Open	Wang Yihan	13–21, 9–21	Runner-up
2011	French Open	Wang Xin	15–21, 19–21	Runner-up
2012	All England Open	Wang Yihan	21–13, 21–19	Winner
2012	India Open	Juliane Schenk	14–21, 21–17, 21–8	Winner
2012	Indonesia Open	Saina Nehwal	21–13, 20–22, 19–21	Runner-up
2012	China Open	Ratchanok Intanon	21–12, 21–9	Winner
2012	Hong Kong Open	Wang Yihan	21–12, 11–3 retired	Winner
2012	World Superseries Finals	Wang Shixian	21–9, 15–4 retired	Winner
2013	Indonesia Open	Juliane Schenk	21–16, 18–21, 21–17	Winner
2013	Singapore Open	Wang Yihan	18–21, 12–21	Runner-up
2013	China Open	Wang Shixian	16–21, 21–17, 21–19	Winner
2013	World Superseries Finals	Tai Tzu-ying	21–8, 21–14	Winner
2014	Malaysia Open	Wang Shixian	21–16, 21–17	Winner
2014	All England Open	Wang Shixian	19–21, 18–21	Runner-up
2014	India Open	Wang Shixian	20–22, 19–21	Runner-up
2014	Singapore Open	Wang Yihan	11–21, 19–21	Runner-up
2014	Japan Open	Tai Tzu-ying	21–16, 21–6	Winner
2014	Indonesia Open	Ratchanok Intanon	21–13, 21–13	Winner
2014	Denmark Open	Wang Yihan	21–17, 22–20	Winner
2014	French Open	Wang Shixian	15–21, 3–8 retired	Runner-up
2015	Malaysia Open	Carolina Marín	21–19, 19–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2015	Denmark Open	P. V. Sindhu	21–19, 21–12	Winner
2015	China Open	Saina Nehwal	21–12, 21–15	Winner
2016	India Open	Ratchanok Intanon	17–21, 18–21	Runner-up

  BWF Superseries Finals tournament

  BWF Superseries Premier tournament

  BWF Superseries 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.

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Macau Open	Adriyanti Firdasari	21–18, 21–15	Winner
2010	Korea Grand Prix	Liu Xin	9–21, 14–21	Runner-up
2011	Thailand Open	Jiang Yanjiao	14–21, 21–14, 21–14	Winner
2011	Bitburger Open	Yao Jie	21–8, 21–9	Winner
2012	German Open	Juliane Schenk	21–19, 21–16	Winner
2015	Chinese Taipei Open	Wang Yihan	10–21, 9–21	Runner-up
2016	German Open	Wang Shixian	21–14, 21–17	Winner
2016	China Masters	Sun Yu	21–16, 19–21, 21–6	Winner

  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

  BWF Grand Prix tournament

Performance timeline

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

G

S

B

NH

N/A

DNQ

(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze medal; (NH) not held; (N/A) not applicable; (DNQ) did not qualify.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

To avoid confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through 2016 Indonesia Open.

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	SR	W–L	Win %
Summer Olympics	NH	A	Not Held			G 6–0	Not Held			4th 4–1	1 / 2	10–1	91%
World Championships	A	NH	Absent			NH	S 4–1	S 4–1	3R 1–1	NH	0 / 3	9–3	75%
World Superseries Finals	NH	Absent				W 5–0	W 5–0	Absent			2 / 2	10–0	100%
Asian Championships	Absent			G 8–0	QF 2–1	G 5–0	S 4–1	A	S 4–1	S 4–1	2 / 6	27–4	87%
Asian Games	Not Held			A	Not Held			S 3–1	Not Held		0 / 1	3–1	75%
East Asian Games	Not Held		A	Not Held			A	Not Held			0 / 0
Team Competitions
Uber Cup	NH	A	NH	A	NH	G 2–0	NH	G 6–0	NH	G 5–0	3 / 3	13–0	100%
Sudirman Cup	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH	G 3–0	NH	G 3–0	NH	2 / 2	6–0	100%
Asian Games	Not Held			A	Not Held			G 3–0	Not Held		1 / 1	3–0	100%
Uber Cup Asia preliminaries	Not Held					S 4–0	Not Held			A	0 / 1	4–0	100%
East Asian Games	Not Held		A	Not Held			A	Not Held			0 / 0
BWF World Superseries Premier
All England Open	Absent				2R 1–1	W 5–0	1R 0–1	F 4–1	2R 1–1	QF 2–1	1 / 6	13–5	72%
Malaysia Open	Absent				2R 1–1	QF 2–1	A	W 5–0	F 4–1	2R 1–1	1 / 5	13–4	76%
Indonesia Open	Absent				2R 1–1	F 4–1	W 5–0	W 5–0	2R 1–1	2R 1–1	2 / 6	17–4	81%
Denmark Open	Absent			QF 2–1	QF 2–1	QF 2–1	QF 2–1	W 5–0	W 5–0	A	2 / 6	18–4	82%
China Open	Q1 0–1	QF 3–1	SF 5–1	2R 1–1	SF 3–1	W 5–0	W 5–0	A	W 5–0	A	3 / 8	27–5	84%
BWF World Superseries
India Open	NH	Absent				W 5–0	A	F 4–1	A	F 4–1	1 / 3	14–2	88%
Singapore Open	Absent			QF 4–1	Absent		F 4–1	F 4–1	Absent		0 / 3	12–3	80%
Australian Open									QF 2–1	SF 3–1	0 / 2	5–2	71%
Japan Open	Absent						1R 0–1	W 5–0	QF 2–1	A	1 / 3	7–2	78%
Korea Open	Absent				1R 0–1	QF 2–1	1R 0–1	A	QF 2–1	A	0 / 4	4–4	50%
French Open	Absent			F 4–1	F 4–1	Absent		F 4–1	QF 2–1	A	0 / 4	14–4	78%
Hong Kong Open	Absent					W 5–0	QF 2–1	A	1R 0–1	A	1 / 3	7–2	78%
BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix
Malaysia Masters	Not Held		Q1 0–1	Absent							0 / 1	0–1	0%
German Open	Absent					W 5–0	QF 2–1	Absent		W 5–0	2 / 3	12–1	92%
China Masters	Absent		1R 1–1	2R 1–1	1R 0–1	QF 1–1	SF 3–1	Absent		W 5–0	1 / 6	11–5	69%
Chinese Taipei Open	Absent								F 4–1	A	0 / 1	4–1	80%
U.S. Open	Absent				QF 2–1	Absent					0 / 1	2–1	67%
Thailand Open	Absent			NH	W 5–0	Absent		NH	Absent		1 / 1	5–0	100%
Bitburger Open	Absent			2R 1–1	W 5–0	Absent					1 / 2	6–1	86%
Korea Open	Absent			F 4–1	SF 3–1	Absent					0 / 2	7–2	78%
Macau Open	Absent		Q2 1–1	W 5–0	SF 3–1	Absent					1 / 3	9–2	82%
Career Statistics
	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Tournaments Played	1	1	4	9	14	15	14	12	14	10	94
Titles	0	0	0	2	2	9	4	6	3	3	29
Finals Reached	0	0	0	4	4	11	7	12	6	5	49
Overall win–loss	0–1	3–1	7–4	30–7	32–12	58–5	39–10	52–6	36–11	34–7	291–64
Win Percentage	0%	75%	64%	81%	73%	92%	80%	90%	77%	83%	81.97%
Year End Ranking			146	11	9	1	1	1	3	8

Record against selected opponents

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

Players	Matches	Results		Difference
		Won	Lost
Petya Nedelcheva	2	2	0	+2
He Bingjiao	5	2	3	–1
Lu Lan	2	1	1	0
Wang Lin	1	1	0	+1
Wang Shixian	17	9	8	+1
Wang Xin	7	1	6	–5
Wang Yihan	18	8	10	–2
Zhang Yiman	1	1	0	+1
Zhu Lin	1	0	1	–1
Cheng Shao-chieh	3	2	1	+1
Tai Tzu-ying	14	11	3	+8
Tine Baun	3	2	1	+1
Pi Hongyan	2	2	0	+2
Juliane Schenk	7	6	1	+5
Wang Chen	1	1	0	+1
Yip Pui Yin	10	10	0	+10

Players	Matches	Results		Difference
		Won	Lost
Zhou Mi	1	1	0	+1
Saina Nehwal	14	12	2	+10
P. V. Sindhu	7	3	4	–1
Maria Kristin Yulianti	1	1	0	+1
Lindaweni Fanetri	7	6	1	+5
Gregoria Mariska Tunjung	1	1	0	+1
Minatsu Mitani	10	10	0	+10
Nozomi Okuhara	6	2	4	–2
Akane Yamaguchi	11	7	4	+3
Aya Ohori	1	1	0	+1
An Se-young	1	0	1	–1
Bae Yeon-ju	10	8	2	+6
Sung Ji-hyun	14	13	1	+12
Carolina Marín	6	3	3	0
Porntip Buranaprasertsuk	13	10	3	+7
Ratchanok Intanon	11	7	4	+3

External links

• Li Xuerui at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com
• Li Xuerui at BWFBadminton.com
• Li Xuerui at BadmintonLink.com
• (in Chinese) Li Xue Rui at BadmintonCN.com