BADMINTON PLAYERS from China

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Badminton Players of all time. This list of famous Chinese Badminton Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Badminton Players.

1. Lin Dan (1983 - )

With an HPI of 43.49, Lin Dan is the most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 48 different languages on wikipedia.

Lin Dan (born 14 October 1983) is a Chinese former professional badminton player. He is a two-time Olympic champion, five-time World champion, as well as a six-time All England champion. Widely regarded as the greatest badminton player of all time, by the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won what some consider to be the nine major titles in the badminton world: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat. He also became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic gold medal by winning in 2008 and successfully defending his title in 2012. In 2004, he was dubbed "Super Dan" by opponent Peter Gade after winning the All England Open final, and the nickname has since been widely used by his fans as well as the media to refer to him, in recognition of his achievements. On 26 May 2023, Lin was inducted to BWF Badminton Hall of Fame.

2. Chen Long (1989 - )

With an HPI of 37.77, Chen Long is the 2nd most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Chen Long (Chinese: 谌龙; pinyin: Chén Lóng; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʈʂʰə̂n lʊ̌ŋ]; born 18 January 1989), is a Chinese former professional badminton player. He is the 2016 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and an Asian champion. 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 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.

3. Zhang Ning (1975 - )

With an HPI of 36.89, Zhang Ning is the 3rd most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Zhang Ning (simplified Chinese: 张宁; traditional Chinese: 張寧; pinyin: Zhāng Níng; born 19 May 1975) is a former Chinese badminton player. She won the Olympic gold medal twice for women's singles in both 2004 and 2008. She has played badminton on the world scene since the mid-1990s and has been particularly successful since 2002 while in her late twenties and early thirties, relatively late for singles at the highest level, and especially for top players in the Chinese system who are developed very early. She is known for her consistency of shot, deception and constant pressure, dictating the pace of rallies and working her opponents in all four corners of the court. She is the only female player to win consecutive Olympic singles gold medals. She also became World champion in 2003 and has a total of five medals of all colours in the competition. Zhang first represented China in the Uber Cup (women's world team championship) competition in 1994 and last represented it in 2006. Though she was not always chosen to play in each of the biennial editions of this tournament, the span of her Uber Cup service is the longest of any Chinese player.

4. Xie Xingfang (1981 - )

With an HPI of 34.87, Xie Xingfang is the 4th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Xie Xingfang (born January 8, 1981) is a retired Chinese badminton player from Guangzhou, Guangdong. She is a former defending 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.

5. Fu Haifeng (1984 - )

With an HPI of 33.21, Fu Haifeng is the 5th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Fu Haifeng (born 23 August 1983) is a Chinese former badminton player. He is regarded as one of the greatest men's doubles players of all time.

6. Cai Yun (1980 - )

With an HPI of 32.12, Cai Yun is the 6th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Cai Yun (born 19 January 1980) is a former professional badminton player representing China. He is the 2012 London Olympic gold medallist and a four-time World Champion in men's doubles. He is regarded as one of the greatest men's doubles player of all time.

7. Gao Ling (1979 - )

With an HPI of 32.08, Gao Ling is the 7th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Gao Ling (Chinese: 高崚; pinyin: Gāo Líng; born 14 March 1979) is a Chinese former badminton player.

8. Li Xuerui (1991 - )

With an HPI of 30.42, Li Xuerui is the 8th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

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.

9. Yu Yang (1986 - )

With an HPI of 28.67, Yu Yang is the 9th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Yu Yang (Chinese: 于洋; pinyin: Yú Yáng; born 7 April 1986) is a retired Chinese badminton player specializing in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, three time World Champion and four time Asian Champion. Yu was part of the China winning team in four Sudirman Cup, three Uber Cup, two Asian Games, and in a Asia Team Championships. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China.

10. Gong Zhichao (1977 - )

With an HPI of 28.31, Gong Zhichao is the 10th most famous Chinese Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Gong Zhichao (simplified Chinese: 龚智超; traditional Chinese: 龔智超; pinyin: Gōng Zhìchāo; born 15 December 1977) is a former badminton player from the People's Republic of China.