Zhang Ning

Zhang Ning (Template:Zh; 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.

Career

2003

Although she had previously won a number of international open titles dating from the mid-1990s, Zhang's breakthrough as a dominant player on the world circuit came in the 2003 IBF World Championships, where she stormed into the final. There, 28-year-old Zhang Ning defeated compatriot Gong Ruina easily 11-6, 11-3.

2004

The following year, Zhang played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics for China. In women's singles, she defeated Marina Andrievskaya of Sweden and Kelly Morgan of Great Britain in the first two rounds. In the quarterfinals, Zhang beat Wang Chen of Hong Kong 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 to advance to the semifinals. There, she defeated countrywoman Zhou Mi 11-6, 11-4. Zhang defeated Netherlands's Mia Audina 8-11, 11-6, 11-7 in the final to win the gold medal. It was sweet revenge for the 29-year-old, who had lost to Audina 10 years earlier in the decisive match of the Uber Cup. With her Olympic win, she became one of three singles players in the world to win the World Championship and the Olympic Games (in either order) in successive years, the others being Susi Susanti and Taufik Hidayat.

2005

Zhang also claimed many titles after her breakthrough wins. She bested Xie Xingfang in the 2005 China Open 3-11, 11-4, 11-8, but in the 2005 World Championships final Zhang fell to Xie Xingfang, 8-11, 11-9, 3-11.

2006

In 2006, Zhang reached the finals of the World Championships yet again, but she was still unable to defeat Xingfang. This time, she lost 16-21, 14-21. However, Zhang claimed revenge in the Japan Open, defeating Xingfang 21-11, 16-21, 30-29. This was the 19th time they had met in an international tournament, with the head-to-head tied at 9-9.

During this year the well known Dutch documentary filmmaker Roel van Dalen made the documentary film Olympic Journey - The Road to Beijing on the life of Zhang Ning, which was broadcast on television worldwide.

2007

In 2007, Zhang won her fifth Singapore Open title in six times, beating Xingfang 21-18, 19-21, 21-3. In the World Championships, Xingfang was defeated in the third round by Malaysian Wong Mew Choo, making Zhang a favourite for the title. However, she was stopped in the semi-finals by Wang Chen. This was the second time Wang Chen had beaten her in 2007, after the Indonesian Open. Zhang's compatriot Zhu Lin went on to beat Wang in the final 21-8, 21-12. In the Beijing Good Luck Invitational tournament, Zhang reached the semi-finals to face Zhu Lin but pulled out due to injury.

In the Danish Open, she reached the final, but lost 17-21, 14-21 to compatriot Lu Lan due to a thigh injury. Zhang also reached the semi-finals of the French Open, but was upset by local hope Pi Hongyan.

In the China Open, Zhang lost in straight sets to Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo in the semi-finals. Zhang cited injury and fatigue as the main reasons for her loss.

2008

Zhang's 2008 season started with a first round loss in the Malaysian Open. She was seen coaching her younger teammates in the tournament as well. In the Korean Open, she lost to her former compatriot, Zhou Mi, in the quarter-final. Zhou now plays for Hong Kong. In the All England, Zhang and Xie, the top 2 seeds, lost in the first round. However they both bounced back strongly in the Swiss Open to reach the final, for their 22nd international meeting. To be in the final was a relief for Zhang, who had failed to get past the quarter-finals in three previous tournaments. Still, Xie beat Zhang 21-18, 21-17, bringing their head-to-head stands to 11:11.

Later, at the Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang progressed to the quarter-final after overcoming South Korean Jun Jae Youn in the third round. She then subdued fifth-seeded Pi Hongyan of France and Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti 21-15, 21-15 to reach the final. There she faced compatriot and world number 1 Xie Xingfang and won in a tough three-setter, 21-12, 10-21, 21-18, to extend her gold medal reign. Zhang became the first badminton player to ever defend an Olympic singles title even though many questioned her ability to do so at the age of 33. She was additionally chosen to represent China as the flag bearer for the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

Retirement

Having previously announced her plans to retire after the 2008 Olympic Games, a retirement ceremony for Zhang and other retiring members of the Chinese national team was held at the 2008 China Open Badminton Championships in Shanghai in November 2008.<ref name="womenofchina.cn">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was in tears receiving an award during the ceremony to mark her retirement with five other teammates from the Chinese national badminton team on the sidelines of the China Open badminton event in Shanghai, November 23, 2008.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After her retirement, Zhang Ning immediately began working with the Chinese national team in coaching and developing the up-and-coming women's singles players. In 2018 however she was replaced by Luo Yigang as the coach of China's women's badminton team following the below par performance of team at the Uber Cup.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2004	Goudi Olympic Hall, Athens, Greece	Template:Flagicon Mia Audina	8–11, 11–6, 11–7	File:Gold medal.svg Gold
2008	Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, Beijing, China	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	21–12, 10–21, 21–18	File:Gold medal.svg Gold

World Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2001	Palacio de Deportes de San Pablo, Seville, Spain	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	5–11, 9–11	Bronze Bronze
2003	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England	Template:Flagicon Gong Ruina	11–6, 11–3	Gold Gold
2005	Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, United States	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	8–11, 11–9, 3–11	Silver Silver
2006	Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	16–21, 14–21	Silver Silver
2007	Putra Indoor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Template:Flagicon Wang Chen	11–21, 15–21	Bronze Bronze

World Cup

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	Olympic Park, Yiyang, China	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	19–21, 16–21	Silver Silver
2006	Olympic Park, Yiyang, China	Template:Flagicon Wang Yihan	19–21, 18–21	Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1999	Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Template:Flagicon Ye Zhaoying	8–11, 5–11	Silver Silver
2001	PhilSports Arena, Manila, Philippines	Template:Flagicon Wang Chen	11–1, 11–3	Gold Gold
2002	Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	11–6, 3–11, 8–11	Silver Silver

Asian Cup

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1996	Olympic Gymnasium No. 2, Seoul, South Korea	Template:Flagicon Zeng Yaqiong	5–11, 11–2, 11–4	Gold Gold

East Asian Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1993	Shanghai, China	Template:Flagicon Shen Lianfeng	8–11, 8–11	Bronze Bronze

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1993	Shanghai, China	Template:Flagicon Qin Yiyuan	Template:Flagicon Kim Shin-young Template:Flagicon Shon Hye-joo	12–15, 11–15	Silver Silver

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two levels, the Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, introduced in 2011, with successful players invited to the BWF Superseries Finals held at the year's end.

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2007	Swiss Open	Template:Flagicon Lu Lan	21–16, 21–18	Template:Gold1 Winner
2007	Singapore Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	21–18, 19–21, 21–3	Template:Gold1 Winner
2007	China Masters	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	11–21, 21–8, 21–23	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2007	Denmark Open	Template:Flagicon Lu Lan	17–21, 14–21	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2008	Swiss Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	18–21, 17–21	Template:Silver2 Runner-up

Template:Color box Superseries tournament

Template:Color box Superseries Premier tournament

Template:Color box Superseries Finals tournament

IBF World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1994	French Open	Template:Flagicon Liu Yuhong	7–11, 11–7, 11–7	Template:Gold1 Winner
1994	Brunei Open	Template:Flagicon Hu Ning	11–3, 6–11, 11–6	Template:Gold1 Winner
1996	Swedish Open	Template:Flagicon Ra Kyung-min	6–11, 11–2, 11–4	Template:Gold1 Winner
1996	Malaysia Open	Template:Flagicon Wang Chen	11–7, 11–8	Template:Gold1 Winner
1996	China Open	Template:Flagicon Wang Chen	11–6, 11–6	Template:Gold1 Winner
1998	All England Open	Template:Flagicon Ye Zhaoying	5–11, 8–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
1998	Malaysia Open	Template:Flagicon Dai Yun	11–1, 11–3	Template:Gold1 Winner
1998	World Grand Prix Finals	Template:Flagicon Dai Yun	11–8, 11–7	Template:Gold1 Winner
2001	Singapore Open	Template:Flagicon Dai Yun	7–1, 4–7, 7–2	Template:Gold1 Winner
2002	Korea Open	Template:Flagicon Gong Ruina	7–0, 5–7, 7–1, 7–2	Template:Gold1 Winner
2002	Singapore Open	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	6–11, 3–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2002	Indonesia Open	Template:Flagicon Gong Ruina	6–11, 7–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2002	China Open	Template:Flagicon Gong Ruina	5–11, 8–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2003	Swiss Open	Template:Flagicon Wang Chen	Walkover	Template:Gold1 Winner
2003	Singapore Open	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	11–0, 11–8	Template:Gold1 Winner
2003	German Open	Template:Flagicon Camilla Martin	11–7, 11–3	Template:Gold1 Winner
2003	Hong Kong Open	Template:Flagicon Gong Ruina	11–5, 11–9	Template:Gold1 Winner
2004	Korea Open	Template:Flagicon Jun Jae-youn	11–6, 11–5	Template:Gold1 Winner
2004	Malaysia Open	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	9–11, 11–7, 11–8	Template:Gold1 Winner
2004	Singapore Open	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	11–8, 11–1	Template:Gold1 Winner
2005	German Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	5–11, 4–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2005	All England Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	3–11, 9–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2005	Japan Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	11–7, 11–8	Template:Gold1 Winner
2005	Singapore Open	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	11–5, 11–7	Template:Gold1 Winner
2005	Malaysia Open	Template:Flagicon Zhu Lin	11–6, 11–2	Template:Gold1 Winner
2005	China Masters	Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	11–3, 5–11, 11–3	Template:Gold1 Winner
2005	Hong Kong Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	11–4, 1–11, 11–6	Template:Gold1 Winner
2005	China Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	3–11, 11–4, 11–8	Template:Gold1 Winner
2006	German Open	Template:Flagicon Lu Lan	11–8, 11–3	Template:Gold1 Winner
2006	All England Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	6–11, 11–4, 2–11	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2006	Chinese Taipei Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	21–15, 21–15	Template:Gold1 Winner
2006	Malaysia Open	Template:Flagicon Tracey Hallam	21–12, 21–13	Template:Gold1 Winner
2006	Hong Kong Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	Walkover	Template:Silver2 Runner-up
2006	Japan Open	Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	21–11, 16–21, 30–29	Template:Gold1 Winner
2006	China Open	Template:Flagicon Yao Jie	21–14, 21–5	Template:Gold1 Winner

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1993	Dutch Open	Template:Flagicon Joanne Goode	Template:Flagicon Finarsih Template:Flagicon Lili Tampi	9–15, 3–15	Template:Silver2 Runner-up

Template:Color box IBF Grand Prix tournament

Template:Color box IBF Grand Prix Finals tournament

Record against selected opponents

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

Players	Matches	Results		Difference
		Won	Lost
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon Huang Chia-chi	3	3	0	+3
Template:Flagicon Petya Nedelcheva	4	4	0	+4
Template:Flagicon Dai Yun	8	6	2	+4
Template:Flagicon Gong Ruina	9	4	5	–1
Template:Flagicon Gong Zhichao	4	2	2	0
Template:Flagicon Han Jingna	2	0	2	–2
Template:Flagicon Lu Lan	4	3	1	+2
Template:Flagicon Wang Lin	2	1	1	0
Template:Flagicon Wang Yihan	4	3	1	+2
Template:Flagicon Xie Xingfang	23	12	11	+1
Template:Flagicon Yao Yan	2	1	1	0
Template:Flagicon Ye Zhaoying	4	0	4	–4
Template:Flagicon Zhu Lin	3	3	0	+3
Template:Flagicon Cheng Shao-chieh	2	2	0	+2
Template:Flagicon Tine Baun	5	4	1	+3
Template:Flagicon Camilla Martin	15	9	6	+3
Template:Flagicon Mette Sørensen	2	2	0	+2

Players	Matches	Results		Difference
		Won	Lost
Template:Flagicon Tracey Hallam	6	6	0	+6
Template:Flagicon Pi Hongyan	17	14	3	+11
Template:Flagicon Petra Overzier	2	2	0	+2
Template:Flagicon Juliane Schenk	5	5	0	+5
Template:Flagicon Xu Huaiwen	3	3	0	+3
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon Wang Chen	17	14	3	+11
Template:Flagicon Yip Pui Yin	5	4	1	+3
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon Zhou Mi	20	8	12	–4
Template:Flagicon Saina Nehwal	1	1	0	+1
Template:Flagicon Susi Susanti	6	1	5	–4
Template:Flagicon Maria Kristin Yulianti	3	2	1	+1
Template:Flagicon Yasuko Mizui	3	3	0	+3
Template:Flagicon Wong Mew Choo	8	7	1	+6
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon Mia Audina	13	7	6	+1
Template:Flagicon Bang Soo-hyun	4	0	4	–4
Template:Flagicon Kim Ji-hyun	2	0	2	–2
Template:Flagicon Lim Xiaoqing	5	0	5	–5

Performance timeline

National team

• Senior level

Team events	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Uber Cup	NH	S	NH	S	NH	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH	G	NH	G	NH
Sudirman Cup	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH	G	NH	G
Asian Games	NH	A	NH			G	NH			G	NH			G	NH
East Asian Games	G	NH			A	NH

Individual competitions

• Women's singles

Tournaments	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Olympic Games	NH			A	NH			A	NH			G	NH			G
World Championships	R64	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH	QF	NH	B	NH	G	NH	S	S	B	NH
World Cup				A		NH							S	B	NH
Asian Games	NH	A	NH			A	NH			A	NH			QF	NH
Asian Championships		3R	QF	A			S	A	G	S	A
Asian Cup	NH			G	NH
East Asian Games	B	NH			A	NH

Tournaments	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Year-end finals					A	RR	W	RR	A	NH							A
China Open	1R	QF	2R	QF	W	2R	NH	2R	NH	SF	F	QF	QF	W	W	SF	A
All England Open	A		3R	3R	3R	QF	F	A	QF	A	QF	SF	SF	F	F	SF	1R
Japan Open	A				QF	QF	A	QF	1R	SF	SF	QF	SF	W	W	QF	A
Malaysia Open	2R	A	2R	QF	W	A	W	QF	A			QF	W	W	W	A	1R
Singapore Open	2R	NH	3R	A	NH	SF	QF	A	NH	W	F	W	W	W	A	W	A
Hong Kong Open	A	SF	2R	A					NH	A	NH	W	NH	W	F	2R	A
Indonesia Open	2R	A		3R	3R	A					F	QF	A			QF	SF
Korea Open	A				SF	QF	NH	QF	A	2R	W	A	W	A			QF
Denmark Open	A	2R	A						SF	QF	A	SF	A			F	A
German Open	A	1R	A				NH	A				W	A	F	W	A
Swedish Open	A			1R	W	QF	SF	A		NH
Swiss Open	A											W	SF	A		W	F
China Masters	NH													W	QF	F	A
Thailand Open	A		QF	A		QF	NH	QF	A		NH	A
Brunei Open	A		W	A		NH	SF	NH
Chinese Taipei Open	A						NH	SF	A	NH	A				W	A
Dutch Open	A	1R	A	NH	A				SF	A
French Open	A		W	A											NH	SF	A
Canada Open	A			QF	NH			A		NH	A						NH
Macau Open	NH										A	NH			QF	A
US Open	A			3R	A

External links

• Template:BWFB
• Template:BWFT
• Template:Olympedia
• Template:Olympics.com