Chen Yufei has been to the very top of badminton. She was world No 1 – a total of 16 weeks – in an era of absolute consistency monsters like Tai Tzu Ying, Carolina Marin, and Akane Yamaguchi. She won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, reestablishing China’s dominance in one of their best disciplines. It was a thriller of a finale as she overcame Tzu Ying and prevented the magician from Chinese Taipei from fulfilling her dream of finally winning the Olympics gold. Yufei has won titles at the most prestigious events around the world: All England Open (x1), and Indonesia Open (x2).
But last year at the Paris Olympics, she faced a heartbreak that took a lot out of her. So much so that she decided to take a break from the sport to explore life outside China, went to Australia to learn English, then returned to play this year, rejuvenated from hitting the pause button on her career, driven to reach greater heights. And on Sunday, she did just that, winning her first Badminton Asia Championships title defeating compatriot Han Yue 11-21, 21-14, 21-9 in Ningbo – it marked a fine comeback in more than one sense.
“After the Olympics (in Paris), I didn’t want to return to the field, because I felt that someone without ambition shouldn’t be there,” Yufei told China Daily earlier this year when she was gearing up for her return to the hard grind of being a badminton professional, especially so if you are from China where the competition is cutthroat. “After the Tokyo Olympics, I was constantly competing and felt exhausted. I said I just wanted to play badminton for fun, but I didn’t really know what I wanted. I wanted to win, but I also wanted to enjoy myself.”
And she set off to Australia, where she enrolled in an English learning course. At the Australian Institute of Language, she completed general English pre-intermediate level with an A grade in listening, writing and speaking, and a B grade in reading. In a sports-loving country like Australia, badminton is not one of the more popular disciplines, so Chen didn’t feel like a superstar that she is. “My classmates didn’t know who I was,” she is quoted as saying by BWF. “But when my teacher asked me what I did as a job, I told the class I’m a professional badminton player and an Olympic champion. Their reaction was amazing — my teacher said he’d never taught an Olympic champion before.”
RESULTS: #BAC2025
WS | FINAL
*Queen of Asia…Chen Yu Fei roared back from a game down to clinch her maiden Badminton Asia Championships women’s singles title, defeating compatriot Han Yue 11-21, 21-14, 21-9 in an emphatic comeback in Ningbo!*#BadmintonAsia… pic.twitter.com/aDaQFOI3le
— Badminton Asia (@Badminton_Asia) April 13, 2025
In the Asia Championships final against Han Yue, Chen lost the opening game 11-21 as the second seed ran away with the backend of it. Chen never really struck any momentum, winning just a maximum of two consecutive points. In the second, Han raced ahead to a 7-2 lead and would have really fancied a win for the first ever time against Yufei, having lost all 8 meetings in the past. But Yufei staged a sensational comeback, winning 7 straight points from 11-12 down to eventually force a decider. The third game was a canter for the former world No 1 as she won 9 straight points from 9-6 to take the fight out of Han and cruised home for her first Asia Championships gold. But even in victory, she was aware of the context of her achievement: she won the gold when An Se-young – undoubtedly the best player in the world right now – wasn’t part of the draw. Having lost against her a couple of times since her comeback, Yufei knows what level she must aspire to be at as she climbs back up the world ladder.
“She’s better in technique, tactics, physical and mental strength, and overall ability. Having such an outstanding player as a benchmark is great for me—it motivates me to keep improving,” Yufei was quoted as saying CGTN after her win on Sunday.
In an Instagram post in November last year, Yufei posted photos of people she met during her time in Australia after she finished her course. “Ten weeks of studying abroad have come to an end,” she wrote in a post in Chinese and English. I forgot to ask myself: as Chen Yufei, standing there on my own, what am I striving for?” In her posts on social media since, she continues to write in both Chinese and English. She has given interviews in English as well since. “This period of learning has led me to reflect on these questions. By pausing, I’ve discovered how to set out once again.”
