Cai Yun

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 players of all time.

Sport career

Combining Cai Yun's impressive speed with his regular partner Fu Haifeng's impressive power, Cai and Fu have been one of the world's leading men's doubles teams since 2004. They have won numerous top tier events on the world circuit including the venerable All England Open Championships in 2005 and 2009. They have won the BWF World Championships 4 times in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011, becoming the first Men's Doubles pair to achieve this feat. Cai and Fu have helped China win five consecutive Thomas Cup (Men's Team World Badminton Championships) (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012) and six consecutive Sudirman Cup (World Team Championships) (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015). Cai and Fu also competed together in the Olympic Games 3 times, including the 2004, the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2012 Olympic Games. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2004, and in 2008 in Beijing were silver medalists, losing a close final to Indonesia's Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.

At the 2010 BWF World Championships, they, being the fifth-seed, beat the third-seed Danish pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21–11, 21–18 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they defeated the second-seed Indonesian Olympic Champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan 21–16, 21–13. In the finals, they overcame the first-seed and Malaysian world no. 1 Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 18–21, 21–18, 21–14 to win the world title for the 3rd time. They are the first Men's Doubles pair to achieve this feat.

Cai and Fu went on to win the Li-Ning China Masters Super Series. Being the fifth-seed, they first defeated their second-seed compatriots Xu Chen and Guo Zhendong 21–11, 21–16 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they made a great comeback against the third-seed South Korean rival Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung 20–22, 21–13, 21–17. Cai and Fu then clinched their second China Masters title by defeating the fourth-seed South Korean pair Yoo Yeon-seong and Ko Sung-hyun in 2 sets 21–14, 21–19. Cai and Fu won their third title in a row by winning the Yonex Japan Open Super Series. They, being the fifth-seed, beat the young Korean pair Cho Gun-woo and Kwon Yi-goo 21–14, 16–21, 21–12 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they defeated their promising compatriots Zhang Nan and Chai Biao 21–17, 21–16. In the finals, they made a great comeback again against the first-seed and Malaysian world no. 1 Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 18–21, 21–14, 21–12 to win their first Japan Open title.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, they defeated Denmark's Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the final to win the gold medal.

Having won 1 Olympic gold medal and 4 World Championship titles, as well as many other titles, Cai and Fu is one of the most successful men's doubles pairs in badminton history. They have expressed the will to continue their career together as long as they can after the London Olympics.

Achievements

Olympic Games

Men's doubles

BWF World Championships

Men's doubles

World Cup

Men's doubles

Asian Championships

Men's doubles

World Junior Championships

Boys' doubles

Mixed doubles

Asian Junior Championships

Boys' doubles

BWF Superseries (15 titles, 9 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,^[3] 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.^[4] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's doubles

BWF Superseries Finals tournament

BWF Superseries Premier tournament

BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (8 titles, 7 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. The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.

Men's doubles

BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

Personal life

Cai Yun married synchronised swimmer Wang Na in 2010. Wang Na gave birth to a daughter in 2012,^[5] and to a second child in probably late 2014.^[6][7] (Cai Yun's doubles partner-turned-coach Zhang Jun married Wang Na's teammate Hu Ni in 2006.)

References

1. ^ Cai and Fu: China’s new hope in men’s doubles Archived 2018-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, BadZine.net, 15 September 2006
2. ^ "Historical 1994-2008 top-25 world ranking data | BadmintonCentral"
3. ^ "BWF Launches Super Series". Badminton Australia. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
4. ^ "Yonex All England Elevated To BWF Premier Super Series Event". IBadmintonstore. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
5. ^ Zhang Yuxiang (张宇翔) (2012-04-16). "zh:王娜成都诞女 蔡赟当爹了" [Wang Na Gives Birth to a Daughter in Chengdu; Cai Yun Becomes a Father] (in Chinese). Chengdu Evening News. Archived from the original on 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
6. ^ Cai Yun (2016-03-15). "Blog post" (in Chinese). WeChat mentioned he had two babies.
7. ^ Shunchan Nadianshi (2014-05-09). "Weibo post" (in Chinese) mentioned Wang Na was again pregnant.

External links

• Cai Yun at the Beijing 2008 Olympics (archived)
• Cai Yun's Blog (in Chinese)