Shi Yuqi

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]

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China	Kento Momota	11–21, 13–21	Silver

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2017	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Chen Long	19–21, 15–21	Bronze
2019	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Kento Momota	21–12, 18–21, 8–21	Silver

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China	Lin Guipu	21–15, 21–19	Gold

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Stadium Sultan Abdul Halim, Alor Setar, Malaysia	Lin Guipu	22–20, 8–21, 18–21	Silver

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2013	Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China	Lai Yu-hua	21–15, 21–15	Bronze

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	Bronze

Boys' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2014	Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Taiwan	Kanta Tsuneyama	19–21, 21–16, 21–16	Gold

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[41] 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.[42]

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,[43] 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.[44] 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

  BWF Superseries Finals tournament

  BWF Superseries Premier tournament

  BWF Superseries tournament

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

  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

  BWF Grand Prix tournament