Liu Yuchen

In this Chinese name, the family name is Liu.

Liu Yuchen (Chinese: 刘雨辰; pinyin: Liú Yǔchén, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player.^[1] He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018,^[2] two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018,^[3][4] and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnered with Li Junhui.^[5] Liu was part of the national team that won the 2018 Asian Games, 2018 Thomas Cup, and 2019 Sudirman Cup.^[6][7][8] Together with Li, he achieved the men's doubles world number 1 in 6 April 2017, and occupied the top ranking for ten weeks.^{[note 1]}

Liu Yuchen 刘雨辰
Personal information
Country	China
Born	(1995-07-25) 25 July 1995 (age 29) Beijing, China
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Retired	19 August 2024
Handedness	Right
Men's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking	1 (MD with Li Junhui, 6 April 2017) 2 (MD with Ou Xuanyi, 30 May 2023) 38 (XD, 27 October 2016)
Medal record Men's badminton Representing  China Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Men's doubles World Championships 2018 Nanjing Men's doubles 2019 Basel Men's doubles Sudirman Cup 2019 Nanning Mixed team 2023 Suzhou Mixed team 2017 Gold Coast Mixed team Thomas Cup 2018 Bangkok Men's team 2024 Chengdu Men's team Asian Games 2018 Jakarta–Palembang Men's team 2022 Hangzhou Men's team 2018 Jakarta–Palembang Men's doubles Asian Championships 2017 Wuhan Men's doubles 2018 Wuhan Men's doubles 2014 Gimcheon Men's doubles 2016 Wuhan Men's doubles Asia Mixed Team Championships 2017 Ho Chi Minh Mixed team World Junior Championships 2012 Chiba Mixed team 2013 Bangkok Boys' doubles 2012 Chiba Boys' doubles 2012 Chiba Mixed doubles 2013 Bangkok Mixed doubles 2013 Bangkok Mixed team Asian Junior Championships 2011 Lucknow Mixed team 2013 Kota Kinabalu Boys' doubles 2013 Kota Kinabalu Mixed team 2012 Gimcheon Mixed team 2013 Kota Kinabalu Mixed doubles 2012 Gimcheon Mixed doubles
BWF profile

Career

Liu competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[9] Partnered with Li Junhui, he won a silver medal in the men's doubles after being defeated by Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei in the final in straight games, 18–21, 12–21.^[5] Following the loss, he and Li received immense backlash from Chinese netizens for being unable to win the gold medal.^[10]

In 2022, Liu started a new partnership with Ou Xuanyi after Li Junhui's retirement.^[11] In the Indonesia Open, the duo beat Korea's Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho to become the first men’s doubles pair from the reserves’ list to win a Super 1000 title.^[12] They qualified to compete at the World Tour Finals and emerged victorious after beating Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the final.^[13]

In 2023, Liu and Ou helped the Chinese national team reach the final round of the Sudirman Cup. Facing former world no. 1 pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semi-finals while Japan was leading the tie 2–1, Liu and Ou saved four match points being down 16–20 in the deciding set and converted their first to keep China alive in the tie. They eventually got into the final. Liu said after the match, "We didn’t think too much. We played each point. We kept doing what we did towards the end. It’s unbelievable." After compatriot and world no. 1 Jia Yifan won the deciding rubber, she stated, "We wouldn’t be here if not for the men’s doubles, they did a great job."^[14] Ultimately, the Chinese national team went on to win the 2023 Sudirman Cup.^[15]

Liu competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics, but failed to make it into the knockout tournament. Some fans and commentators have attributed Liu pair's absence from the knockout tournament to his group being ridiculously stacked compared to the other groups.^[16][17] In addition, Kim Astrup, whose pair was in the same group as Liu's, remarked that making it into the quarter-finals from their group deserved a medal on its own due to how loaded their group was.^[18]

On 19 August 2024, Liu announced his retirement from international badminton.^[19]

Personal life

His sister, Liu Jing, is a swimmer.^[20]

Liu is often jokingly called Hendra Setiawan's 'eldest son' by fans, due to his public admiration towards the elder shuttler and his closeness with Setiawan's family.^[21] Liu himself has acknowledged the joke in an Instagram post with Setiawan's family during the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta.^[22]

Liu's father is the coach of the Beijing Municipal women's Badminton team. His mother has also coached the Beijing badminton team.

On 2 August 2024, Liu proposed to his girlfriend, fellow Chinese badminton player and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Huang Yaqiong, right after she received her gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Adidas Arena, Paris, which she accepted.^[23][24]

Achievements

Olympic Games

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2020	Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Tokyo, Japan	Li Junhui	Lee Yang Wang Chi-lin	18–21, 12–21	Silver	[5]

BWF World Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China	Li Junhui	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	21–12, 21–19	Gold	[2]
2019	St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland	Li Junhui	Takuro Hoki Yugo Kobayashi	19–21, 13–21	Bronze	.[25]

Asian Games

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia	Li Junhui	Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto	14–21, 21–19, 13–21	Bronze	[26]

Asian Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2014	Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, Gimcheon, South Korea	Li Junhui	Shin Baek-cheol Yoo Yeon-seong	20–22, 17–21	Silver	[27]
2016	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Li Junhui	Lee Yong-dae Yoo Yeon-seong	14–21, 26–28	Silver	[28]
2017	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Wang Yilyu	21–14, 21–12	Gold	[3]
2018	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Li Junhui	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	11–21, 21–10, 21–13	Gold	[4]

BWF World Junior Championships

Boys' doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2012	Chiba Port Arena, Chiba, Japan	Wang Yilyu	Lee Chun Hei Ng Ka Long	10–21, 11–21	Bronze	[29]
2013	Hua Mark Indoor Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Zheng Siwei	14–21, 21–13, 22–20	Gold	[30]

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2012	Chiba Port Arena, Chiba, Japan	Chen Qingchen	Edi Subaktiar Melati Daeva Oktavianti	21–14, 18–21, 11–21	Bronze	[29]
2013	Hua Mark Indoor Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Huang Dongping	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Masita Mahmudin	21–6, 17–21, 19–21	Bronze	[31]

Asian Junior Championships

Boys' doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2013	Likas Indoor Stadium, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Zheng Siwei	21–15, 21–14	Gold	[32]

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2012	Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, Gimcheon, South Korea	Chen Qingchen	Choi Sol-gyu Chae Yoo-jung	17–21, 19–21	Bronze	[33]
2013	Likas Indoor Stadium, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia	Huang Dongping	Choi Sol-gyu Chae Yoo-jung	11–21, 21–19, 13–21	Silver	[32]

BWF World Tour (7 titles, 7 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017, and implemented in 2018,^[34] 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100.^[35]

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Indonesia Masters	Super 500	Li Junhui	Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	21–11, 10–21, 16–21	Runner-up
2018	Japan Open	Super 750	Li Junhui	Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	11–21, 13–21	Runner-up
2018	BWF World Tour Finals	World Tour Finals	Li Junhui	Hiroyuki Endo Yuta Watanabe	21–15, 21–11	Winner
2019	Malaysia Open	Super 750	Li Junhui	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	21–12, 21–17	Winner
2019	Thailand Open	Super 500	Li Junhui	Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Chirag Shetty	19–21, 21–18, 18–21	Runner-up
2019	Macau Open	Super 300	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Liu Cheng	21–8, 18–21, 22–20	Winner
2020	Malaysia Masters	Super 500	Li Junhui	Kim Gi-jung Lee Yong-dae	14–21, 16–21	Runner-up
2022	German Open	Super 300	Ou Xuanyi	Goh Sze Fei Nur Izzuddin	21–23, 21–16, 14–21	Runner-up
2022	Korea Masters	Super 300	Ou Xuanyi	Kim Gi-jung Kim Sa-rang	14–21, 16–21	Runner-up
2022	Indonesia Open	Super 1000	Ou Xuanyi	Choi Sol-gyu Kim Won-ho	21–17, 23–21	Winner
2022	Australian Open	Super 300	Ou Xuanyi	Ong Yew Sin Teo Ee Yi	21–16, 22–20	Winner
2022	BWF World Tour Finals	World Tour Finals	Ou Xuanyi	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–17, 19–21, 21–12	Winner
2023	Hylo Open	Super 300	Ou Xuanyi	Lee Yang Wang Chi-lin	24–22, 21–13	Winner
2023	Japan Masters	Super 500	Ou Xuanyi	He Jiting Ren Xiangyu	14–21, 21–15, 15–21	Runner-up

BWF Superseries (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006, and implemented in 2007,^[36] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011.^[37] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	Japan Open	Li Junhui	Kim Gi-jung Ko Sung-hyun	21–12, 21–12	Winner
2016	Korea Open	Li Junhui	Lee Yong-dae Yoo Yeon-seong	21–15, 20–22, 18–21	Runner-up
2017	All England Open	Li Junhui	Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	19–21, 14–21	Runner-up
2017	Singapore Open	Li Junhui	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	13–21, 14–21	Runner-up
2017	Indonesia Open	Li Junhui	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	21–19, 19–21, 21–18	Winner

  BWF Superseries Finals tournament

  BWF Superseries Premier tournament

  BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (7 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2013	New Zealand Open	Li Junhui	Angga Pratama Rian Agung Saputro	6–21, 20–22	Runner-up
2014	India Grand Prix Gold	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Zheng Siwei	21–17, 19–21, 22–20	Winner
2014	Chinese Taipei Open	Li Junhui	Andrei Adistia Hendra Aprida Gunawan	14–21, 21–16, 16–21	Runner-up
2015	China Masters	Li Junhui	Wang Yilyu Zhang Wen	21–15, 19–21, 21–12	Winner
2015	U.S. Open	Li Junhui	Manu Attri B. Sumeeth Reddy	21–12, 21–16	Winner
2015	Canada Open	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Wang Sijie	17–21, 21–12, 21–18	Winner
2015	Vietnam Open	Li Junhui	Huang Kaixiang Wang Sijie	21–8, 21–16	Winner
2016	Chinese Taipei Open	Li Junhui	Chen Hung-ling Wang Chi-lin	21–17, 17–21, 24–22	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Chinese Taipei Open	Yu Xiaohan	Alfian Eko Prasetya Annisa Saufika	21–16, 21–18	Winner

  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 runners-up)

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2015	China International	Li Junhui	Wang Yilyu Zhang Wen	10–21, 20–22	Runner-up	[38]

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2015	China International	Yu Xiaohan	Zheng Siwei Chen Qingchen	21–15, 12–21, 13–21	Runner-up	[38]
2015	Osaka International	Huang Dongping	Kim Duck-young Eom Hye-won	17–21, 21–16, 17–21	Runner-up	[39]

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

Note

1. See also: Number one ranked players timeline.