Shi Yuqi (Chinese: 石宇奇; pinyin: Shí Yǔqí; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂɻ̩̌.ỳ tɕʰǐ]; born 28 February 1996) is a Chinese badminton player. Shi Yuqi won his first Superseries title in the 2016 French Open.[1][2] At the 2017 All England Open, he defeated 6-time champion Lin Dan to reach the final,[3] and repeated the same feat again at the 2018 All England Open, where he outclassed Lin Dan in the tournament final.[4]
Shi was born on 28 February 1996, in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province to parents Shi Lei and Fang Fang. He started playing badminton at age six when he entered a junior sports school in the city to practice badminton.[5] In 2007, Shi went to Singapore to study as well as play badminton. He enrolled in Yu Neng Primary School and trained at the Singapore Badminton School under ex-SBA chief coach Zhang Qing Song.[6] In 2009, he returned to China after the global financial crisis.
In 2011, Shi won first place in the Jiangsu Province youth badminton competition. Thereafter, he successfully entered the Jiangsu Province badminton team and became a professional badminton player. In 2012, he participated in the National Youth Championship for the first time and won the championship. At the age of 16, he was selected for the national badminton team.[5]
In 2012, Shi participated in his first Asian Junior Badminton Championships and came in second in the mixed team event, losing to Japan.[7] In the boy's singles event, he lost to C. Rohit Yadav in the round of 32. In 2013 edition of the Asian Junior Badminton Championships, Shi, as a member of the Chinese team, came in first in the mixed team event, beating South Korea.[8] Later in that year, Shi made his first senior international debut at the Korea Grand Prix Gold.[9] In 2014, Shi had his first breakthrough in his fledging career. He won both the boy's singles and mixed team titles at the Asian Junior Badminton Championships,[10] won the World Junior Championships mixed team event, and won the Youth Olympics boy's singles gold.[5] Shi, however, did not have a good year in 2015, his best showing was at the China Open, where he reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, losing to Son Wan-ho in three games.[11]
In 2016, Shi become a first-line player on the Chinese badminton team. He started the season poorly though, reaching only the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International in his first eight-month on tour.[12] However, his form improved later in the year, and won his first senior title on tour by winning the Indonesia Masters, beating his compatriot Huang Yuxiang in the final.[13] Shi then followed up from his success by winning the French Open, beating Lee Hyun-il in straight games, 21–16, 21–19. He continued his rich veins of form by winning the Bitburger Open next, beating Sourabh Varma 21–19, 22–20 in the final.[14]
Shi continued his good form into 2017. He started the season by winning a bronze medal in the Asia Mixed Team Championships.[15] In March, he reached the final of the All England Open, beating Lin Dan in the semi-finals. He, however, would lose to Lee Chong Wei in the final.[16] Shi then reached another final at the Swiss Open, but was defeated by Lin Dan this time around.[17] In April, he competed in the Asian Championships and finished third. In August, Shi participated in his maiden World Championships but was knocked out by Wong Wing Ki in the round of 16. At the year-end World Superseries Finals, he lost in the semi-finals to Viktor Axelsen, 21-12, 21-8.[18]
2018 was probably Shi's best season to date. He began by winning the India Open in January, beating Chou Tien-chen in two straight games.[19] In February, he won a silver medal in the Asia Team Championships.[20] He started March by reaching the semi-finals of the German Open. He then competed at the All England and won the crown, defeating Lin Dan in the final, with the scoreline of 21-19, 16-21, 21-9.[21] It was his biggest ever individual title on tour and his first Super 1000 title. In May, Shi was selected to represent the Chinese team in the Thomas Cup and he did not disappoint, winning the crucial men's singles tie against Kenta Nishimoto in the final, to help his team to a 3-1 victory over Japan.[22] In July, he participated in his second World Championships and made it all the way to the final where he lost to Kento Momota, thus finishing with a silver medal, which is his best showing in the tournament thus far.[23] In August, Shi participated in the Asian Games men's team event and won gold.[24] In October, he reached his second French Open final but was defeated by Chen Long in straight games.[25] At the year-end tourney, Shi avenges his defeat at the World Championships by beating Kento Momota, 21-12, 21-11, to win his first World Tour Final title.[26]
Shi's first tournament of the season was at the Malaysia Masters where he reached the quarter-finals but was defeated by Liew Daren in three games.[27] In March, his quest to defend his All England title was thwarted by Viktor Axelsen after losing to him in the semi-finals.[28] Shi then bounces back quickly from his disappointment by winning the next tournament, the Swiss Open. There, he defeated B. Sai Praneeth in three games, 19-21, 21-18, 21-12, to win his first Swiss Open title.[29] In April, he competed at the Malaysia Open but lost to Lin Dan in the semi-finals.[30] He then participated in the Asian Championships held in Wuhan, China, where he finished with a silver medal, after losing to Kento Momota in the final.[31] In May, he won gold at the Sudirman Cup as part of the Chinese team.[32] In July, Shi participated in the Indonesia Open where he suffered a horrible ankle injury in a match with Anders Antonsen and had to retire.[33] For the rest of the year, Shi did not perform well, he only reached the final of the Macau Open, where he lost to Sitthikom Thammasin.[34]
Shi had a hectic start to the 2020 season where he participated in three straight tournaments in January to begin the season. He reached the quarter-finals of both the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters, and the semi-finals of the Thailand Masters. In March, he competed in the All England Open, but was defeated by Viktor Axelsen again albeit, in the quarter-finals this time.[35] This will turn out to be his final tournament of the year as the rest of the tourneys were mostly canceled after the COVID-19 outbreak.
In 2021, Shi competed in only four tournaments, namely the delayed Tokyo Olympics in July, the Chinese National Championships and the Sudirman Cup in September, and the delayed Thomas Cup in October. In the Tokyo Olympics, Shi cleared the group stage easily and met Jonatan Christie in the round of 16 where, he had no problem dispatching, beating him 21-11, 21-9. In the quarter-final, he faced Viktor Axelsen again and lost 13-21, 13-21, thus ending his Olympics campaign.[36] In the Chinese National Championships, he finally claimed his first national title after beating Jiangsu teammate Lu Guangzu, 21-9, 21-13 in the final.[37] In the Sudirman Cup, Shi performed well, helping China defend its title from 2019.[38] In the Thomas Cup, China reached the final but lost to Indonesia 3-0. He did not play in the final.[39]
During the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup competition held in Aarhus, Denmark, Shi lost the first set 22-20 and then retired in the second as Kento Momota of Japan was about to serve for the match at 20-5. This “bizarre” retreat caused some controversy. Shi later cited injuries and tiredness for his withdrawal in a social media post, but that did little to quell netizens' anger, with people calling him out for his unsportsmanlike behavior.[40]
In an interview before the 2022 Thomas Cup Finals, the president of the Chinese Badminton Association, Zhang Jun confirmed that after an internal review, Shi has been suspended from the national team and barred from playing in any international tournaments for one year. The internal ban was due to the infamous incident from the Thomas Cup competition last year and the immature comments that he said after the match.[41]
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China |  Kento Momota
|
11–21, 13–21 |  |
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China |  Chen Long
|
19–21, 15–21 |  |
| 2019 | Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China | Kento Momota
|
21–12, 18–21, 8–21 | |
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China | Lin Guipu
|
21–15, 21–19 |  |
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Stadium Sultan Abdul Halim, Alor Setar, Malaysia | Lin Guipu
|
22–20, 8–21, 18–21 | |
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China |  Lai Yu-hua
|
21–15, 21–15 | |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China |
Chen Yufei
|
Lai Yu-hua Lee Chia-hsin
|
21–16, 21–13 | |
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Taiwan | Kanta Tsuneyama
|
19–21, 21–16, 21–16 |  |
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[42] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are 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.[43]
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | India Open | Super 500 | Chou Tien-chen
|
21–18, 21–14 |  Winner
|
| 2018 | All England Open | Super 1000 | Lin Dan
|
21–19, 16–21, 21–9 | Winner
|
| 2018 | French Open | Super 750 | Chen Long
|
17–21, 19–21 |  Runner-up
|
| 2018 | BWF World Tour Finals | World Tour Finals | Kento Momota
|
21–12, 21–11 | Winner
|
| 2019 | Swiss Open | Super 300 |  B. Sai Praneeth
|
19–21, 21–18, 21–12 | Winner
|
| 2019 | Macau Open | Super 300 |  Sitthikom Thammasin
|
21–12, 14–21, 7–21 | Runner-up
|
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[44] 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.[45] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | French Open |  Lee Hyun-il
|
21–16, 21–19 | Winner
|
| 2017 | All England Open |  Lee Chong Wei
|
12–21, 10–21 | Runner-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 singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Indonesian Masters | Huang Yuxiang
|
21–12, 11–0 retired | Winner
|
| 2016 | Bitburger Open | Sourabh Varma
|
21–19, 22–20 | Winner
|
| 2017 | Swiss Open | Lin Dan
|
12–21, 11–21 | Runner-up
|
