Chen Long

Chen Long
Personal information
Birth name	谌龙
Country	China
Born	(1989-01-18) January 18, 1989 Shashi, Hubei, China
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb; 12.4 st)
Handedness	Right
Men's singles
Highest ranking	2 (October 27, 2011)
Current ranking	2 (November 22, 2012)
Medal record Representing China Men's badminton Olympic Games 2012 London Men's singles Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou Team Thomas Cup 2012 Wuhan Team 2010 Kuala Lumpur Team
BWF profile

Chen Long (Chinese: 谌龙 born January 18, 1989 in Shashi, Hubei) is a male badminton player from China.

Career

2010

Chen participated in the Korea Open Super Series in January. He made it through to the semi-finals before losing to Danish player Peter Gade, 13–21 21–10 17–21. A week later, in the Malaysia Open, he lost in the opening round to Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand.

At the prestigious All England Open in March, he registered an impressive victory over 8th seed Jan Jorgensen in the first round but fell to Korea's Shon Wan-ho 18–21 21–18 19–21 in the second round. He followed up this disappointment with his best ever performance in a Super Series event by making it through to the final of the Swiss Open, where he finished runner-up to compatriot Chen Jin.

Chen was part of the Chinese team that won gold at the 2010 Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He only featured in their opening match against Peru, taking just 31 minutes to beat his opponent, before being replaced in the team by Bao Chunlai for the later rounds. Chen's first individual title of 2010 came at the Bitburger Open in Germany, where he beat Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21–3 12–21 21–9 in the final of the GP Gold event. His good form continued when he finished runner-up to Lin Dan at the China Masters two weeks later, going down 15–21 21–13 14–21 to the reigning Olympic champion.

Chen obtained a second team gold medal of the year with China at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, but did not feature in the individual event. More success followed when he won the China Open Super Series two weeks later. His passage to the final included a controversial walkover by Lin Dan in the quarter-finals and a hard fought victory over current World champion Chen Jin in the semi-finals. In the final, he squared off against teammate Bao Chunlai, emerging the victor after 75 minutes of play. Chen's attempt at back-to-back Super Series titles came to an end at the hands of former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open the following week. Chen's strong finish to the year saw his world ranking rise to a career high of 3rd, briefly becoming the top ranked Chinese player.

2011

In the first tournament of the new season, Chen Long was convincingly beaten by world No 1 Lee Chong Wei in the semi-final of the Malaysia Open. It took just 39 minutes for the Malaysian to blow away the upcoming Chinese star with a score of 21–9 21–9. The effects of the demoralising defeat were still evident a week later when Chen lost in the second round of the Korea Open to Japanese player Kenichi Tago. His first individual title of the year came at the Thailand Open, where he beat experienced Korean player Lee Hyun-il in the final.

In August, Chen was eliminated in the first round of the World Championships by unheralded Guatemalan player Kevin Cordón in what was one of the shock results of the tournament. Cordón emerged the victor after clinching the third set 27–25 in a thrilling encounter. Chen sprang back from his shock exit from the World Championships by winning his first China Masters title after defeating his compatriot Chen Jin in the final. A week later, he won his first Japan Open by avenging world No 1 Lee Chong Wei in the final. In October, Chen won his third consecutive Super Series tournament with another victory over Lee Chong Wei, this time in the final of the Denmark Open in its first year as a Premier Super Series event.

His highlights of the season were followed by an exit from semi-finals of Hong Kong Open and failure to defend his China Open title after losing to his compatriot, Lin Dan, in the final. He ended year 2011 with another runner-up in Super Series Master Finals, being beaten by Lin Dan again.

2012

In 2012, Chen lost in the pre-quarterfinals of Indonesia Open 2012, to Parupalli Kashyap, 21-17, 21-14.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Chen was defeated in the semi-final of the Men's Singles by Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, 21-13, 21-14, but went on to win bronze after defeating Lee Hyun-il in the Bronze medal match.

Achievements

Individual titles (10)

Year	Tournament	Opponent in final	Score
2012	Hong Kong Open	Lee Chong Wei	21–19, 21–17
2012	China Open	Wang Zhengming	21–19, 21–18
2012	China Masters	Hu Yun	21–11, 22–13
2011	Denmark Open	Lee Chong Wei	21–15, 21–18
2011	Japan Open	Lee Chong Wei	21–8, 10–21, 21–19
2011	China Masters	Chen Jin	21–16, 22–20
2011	Thailand Open	Lee Hyun-il	21–8, 21–19
2010	China Open	Bao Chunlai	9–21, 21–14, 21–16
2010	Bitburger Open	Hans-Kristian Vittinghus	21–3, 12–21, 21–9
2009	Philippine Open	Hu Yun	21–13, 21–6
Junior Tournaments
2007	World Junior Championships	Kenichi Tago	21–16, 21–14
2007	Asian Junior Championships	Mohd Arif Latif	18–21, 21–18, 22–20

  Super Series tournament

  Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix tournament