Zhang Ning

Zhang Ning
Personal information
Birth name	张宁
Country	China
Born	19 May 1975 Jinzhou, Liaoning, China
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb; 10.1 st)
Handedness	Right
Women's singles
Highest ranking	1
Current ranking	4[1] (September 25, 2008)
Medal record Competitor for  China Women's Badminton Olympic Games 2004 Athens Women's Singles 2008 Beijing Women's Singles World Championships 2003 Birmingham Women's Singles 2005 Anaheim Women's Singles 2006 Madrid Women's Singles 2001 Seville Women's Singles 2007 Kuala Lumpur Women's Singles
BWF profile

Zhang Ning (simplified Chinese: 张宁; traditional Chinese: 張寧; pinyin: Zhāng Níng; born 19 May 1975 in Jinzhou, Liaoning, China) is a female badminton player from the People's Republic of China. 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.

Zhang first represented China in 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.

Badminton 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 have 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 was 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 reason 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.^[2][3] 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.

Achievements

Prior to the results listed in the performance chart below, Zhang had won the French (1994), Swedish (1996), Malaysia (1998), Singapore (2001), and Korea (2002) Opens; the 1998 World Badminton Grand Prix and Copenhagen Masters; and the 2001 Asian Championships.^[2] She had also earned a bronze medal at the 2001 IBF World Championships and a second-place finish (to compatriot Ye Zhaoying) at the 1998 All-England Championships, the one major world title that she never captured.

Year	Date	Tournament	Round
2008	16 August 2008	BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES 2008	Winner
2007	6 May 2007	AVIVA OPEN SINGAPORE 2007	Winner
2006
	22 Oct 2006	CHINA OPEN	Winner
	15 Oct 2006	YONEX JAPAN OPEN	Winner
	24 Sep 2006	WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS	Runner-Up
	02 Sep 2006	YONEX SUNRISE HONG KONG	Runner-Up
	23 Jul 2006	Macau Open Championship	Quarter-Finalist
	25 Jun 2006	CHINESE TAIPEI OPEN	Winner
	18 Jun 2006	PROTON MALAYSIA OPEN	Winner
6 May 2006	UBER CUP	Winner
12 Mar 2006	CHINA MASTERS 2006	Quarter-Finalist
22 Jan 2006	YONEX ALL ENGLAND OPEN 2006	Runner-Up
15 Jan 2006	YONEX GERMAN OPEN 2006	Winner
2005
	13 Nov 2005	PICC CHINA OPEN 2005	Winner
	06 Nov 2005	Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Badminon Championship 2005	Winner
	04 Sep 2005	CHINA MASTERS 2005	Winner
	21 Aug 2005	XIV WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005	Finalist
	10 Jul 2005	PROTON MALAYSIA OPEN 2005	Winner
	03 Jul 2005	SINGAPORE OPEN 2005	Winner
15 May 2005	SUDIRMAN CUP FINAL 2005	Team Event
10 Apr 2005	YONEX OPEN JAPAN 2005	Winner
13 Mar 2005	YONEX ALL ENGLAND OPEN 2005	Runner-Up
05 Mar 2005	YONEX GERMAN OPEN 2005	Runner-Up
2004
	21 Nov 2004	AVIVA OPEN SINGAPORE 2004	Winner
	14 Nov 2004	CHINA OPEN 2004	1/4
	21 Aug 2004	OLYMPIC GAMES 2004	Winner
	04 Jul 2004	Proton-Eon MALAYSIA OPEN 2004	Winner
	16 May 2004	UBER CUP FINALS 2004	Team Event
	11 Apr 2004	YONEX OPEN JAPAN 2004	Semi-Finalist
04 Apr 2004	NOONNOPPI KOREA OPEN 2004	Winner
14 Mar 2004	YONEX ALL ENGLAND OPEN 2004	Semi-Finalist
07 Mar 2004	SWISS OPEN 2004	Semi-Finalist
2003
	16 Nov 2003	CHINA OPEN 2003	1/4
	02 Nov 2003	HONG KONG OPEN 2003	Winner
	05 Oct 2003	YONEX GERMAN OPEN 2003	Winner
	28 Sep 2003	DENMARK OPEN 2003	Semi-Finalist
	07 Sep 2003	PROTON EON MALAYSIA OPEN 2003	1/4
	31 Aug 2003	SANYO INDONESIA OPEN 2003	1/4
	24 Aug 2003	YONEX-SUNRISE SINGAPORE OPEN 2003	Winner
	03 Aug 2003	World Championships 2003	Winner
06 Apr 2003	Yonex Open Japan 2003	1/4
23 Mar 2003	Sudirman Cup 2003	Team Event
23 Feb 2003	Swiss Open 2003	Winner
16 Feb 2003	Yonex All England Open 2003	Semi-Finalist
2002
	22 Dec 2002	China Open 2002	Runner-Up
	17 Nov 2002	JVC Asian Champs 2002	Runner-Up
	01 Sep 2002	Sanyo Indonesia Open 2002	Runner-Up
25 Aug 2002	Yonex-Sunrise Singapore Open 2002	Runner-Up
19 May 2002	Uber Cup Finals (CHN) 2002 TF	Team Event

References

1. BWF World Ranking - WOMENS SINGLES, Badminton World Federation