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Michelle Li

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Michelle Li (born November 3, 1991) is a Canadian badminton player.[1][2] Li is the 2014 Commonwealth Games champion and the first Canadian to win an individual gold medal in women's singles badminton at the Commonwealth Games. She has won gold in both singles and doubles at the Pan American Games and won the singles and team event titles from the Pan American Badminton Championships. As a competitor for Ontario, Li also won singles, doubles, and mixed team titles at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

Michelle Li
李文珊
Michelle Li at the 2017 Indonesia Open Superseries Premier
Personal information
Birth nameMichelle Li Man-shan
CountryCanada
Born (1991-11-03) November 3, 1991 (age 32)
Hong Kong
ResidenceMarkham, Ontario, Canada
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Years active2010–present
HandednessRight
CoachJennifer Lee
Mike Butler
Women's singles
Career record402 wins, 203 losses
Highest ranking8 (22 October 2019)
Current ranking24 (9 April 2024)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Canada
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham Women's singles
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2015 Toronto Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Women's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Toronto Women's doubles
Pan Am Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Santo Domingo Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Markham Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Guatemala City Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Aguascalientes Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2022 San Salvador Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kingston Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 2010 Curitiba Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 2010 Curitiba Women's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2024 Guatemala City Women's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Lima Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Santo Domingo Women's doubles
Pan Am Mixed Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Lima Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Curitiba Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Santo Domingo Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Markham Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Guadalajara Mixed team
Pan Am Women's Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tacarigua Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2020 Salvador Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2024 São Paulo Women's team
Commonwealth Youth Games
Silver medal – second place 2008 Pune Girls' doubles
BWF profile
Michelle Li
Chinese李文珊

Early life and education edit

Michelle Li was born in Hong Kong to Chi Keung Li and Agnes Kwong; together with her brother Mark, they moved to Canada in 1997. An active child, she started playing badminton at age 11 with her mom at the local community center. A friend introduced her to her current club, where she began lessons and competing locally in small tournaments. She started competing internationally when she was around 17 years old. Li graduated from Richmond Hill High School and is an undergraduate student at Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto.[citation needed]

Career edit

2010–2012 edit

One of Li's early notable performances came at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There she won gold in the women's singles event and followed that performance with a gold in the doubles event with Alexandra Bruce. Due to this success, she was named the flag bearer for Team Ontario at the closing ceremonies for the games.[3]

Later that year, Li was the gold medal winner in the women's doubles event alongside Bruce at the 2011 Pan American Games.[4] Li would then go on the next day to win the women's singles competition, completing a second games double gold appearance that year, this time in Guadalajara.[5]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Bruce and Li finished last in the round-robin portion of the women's doubles tournament, losing all three of their matches.[6] However, the top two teams in the group were disqualified for attempting to intentionally lose matches so they would have an easier match-up in the quarterfinals.[7] The duo was advanced to their quarterfinals, where they defeated Australia's Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran. Bruce and Li finished in fourth place, the best Canadian finish in badminton at the Olympic Games.[6] In the singles event, Li was knocked out by Wang Yihan.[8]

2013–2014 edit

In 2013, Li entered the finals of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold, defeating Hong Kong top player Yip Pui Yin in the semi-finals, making her the first Pan-American athlete to ever enter into a singles final of a Grand Prix Gold event since that series began in 2007. In 2014, she also entered into the quarter-finals of the All England Open Badminton Championships Super Series Premier, beating Tai Tzu-ying in the first round, making her, in 35 years, the first Canadian player to enter at least the quarter-finals of this prestigious tournament. Later in 2014, Li won the Canada Open Grand Prix, making her the first home player to win this title ever since it became a Grand Prix event.

Li won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, defeating Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the final.[9] She thus became the first Canadian woman to win a singles gold in Commonwealth badminton.[10] She also won the singles gold medal at the 2014 Pan Am Badminton Championships in her home city, Markham, later that year.

2015–2016 edit

At the 2015 Pan American Games, Li successfully defended her title, defeating fellow Canadian Rachel Honderich in the final.[11]

In 2016, she qualified to represent Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics but was defeated by P. V. Sindhu (21-19, 15-21, 17-21) and ranked 2nd in the group stage of women's singles.

Michelle also had several operations in 2016 to fix nagging injuries sustained earlier in her career. She took a year off in 2017 to heal from the operations and to focus on a comeback for 2018. After deeming herself fully fit, she entered the stage relatively quietly in 2018 until she made a landmark win against the 3rd seed Ratchanok Intanon in round 16 of the All England Open. She had not defeated Intanon previously. Michelle's progress was clear as she moved quickly around the court, playing much lighter on her feet than in previous years.

2017–2021 edit

During the 2018 Thomas Uber Cup, Li again played well. She defeated India's Saina Nehwal, who she had not previously beaten, by 21–15, 16–21, and 16–21. Li spearheaded Canada to their first-ever Uber Cup quarterfinal, and she defeated Sung Ji-hyun (21–14, 21–15). Canada eventually lost 3–1 to South Korea. Li also won her first Macau Open title by defeating the Olypmic gold medalist, Li Xuerui (21-15, 21-18) in the quarterfinals in the same year.

In the 2019 Japan Open, Li played and defeated the No. 1 seed, Tai Tzu-ying (21–15, 15–21, 22–20), to reach the semis. She also reached another semi-finals in the 2019 Korea Open after defeating the No. 4 seed, Nozomi Okuhara (21-23, 21-16, 21-19). In the same year, she successfully defended her title again at the 2019 Pan American Games.

She qualified to represent Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics but was defeated by Nozomi Okuhara (9–21, 7–21) in the round of 16.[12]

2022 edit

In 2022, Li won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games after defeating Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the semi-finals and losing to P. V. Sindhu in the final.[13] In the same year, Li also made a breakthrough in the 2022 BWF World Championships by defeating the eighth seed, Ratchanok Intanon, again in the round of 16. Though she eventually lost to the Olympic gold medalist and Chinese player Chen Yufei, it marked her first time getting into the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships since 2011.[14][15]

Achievements edit

 
Michelle Li

Commonwealth Games edit

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2014 Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland   Kirsty Gilmour 21–14, 21–7   Gold
2022 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England   P. V. Sindhu 15–21, 13–21   Silver

Pan American Games edit

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2011 Multipurpose Gymnasium, Guadalajara, Mexico   Joycelyn Ko 21–12, 21–13   Gold
2015 Atos Markham Pan Am Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada   Rachel Honderich 21–15, 21–9   Gold
2019 Polideportivo 3, Lima, Peru   Rachel Honderich 21–11, 21–19   Gold

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2011 Multipurpose Gymnasium,
Guadalajara, Mexico 		  Alex Bruce   Iris Wang
  Rena Wang 		21–15, 21–15   Gold
2015 Atos Markham Pan Am Centre,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 		  Rachel Honderich   Eva Lee
  Paula Lynn Obañana 		11–21, 8–21   Bronze

Pan Am Championships edit

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2010 Clube Curitibano, Curitiba, Brazil   Cee Nantana Ketpura 21–17, 17–21, 19–21   Silver
2013 Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic   Jamie Subandhi 21–8, 21–6   Gold
2014 Markham Pan Am Centre, Markham, Canada   Rachel Honderich 21–13, 21–16   Gold
2018 Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium, Guatemala City, Guatemala   Rachel Honderich 21–15, 21–16   Gold
2019 Gimnasio Olímpico, Aguascalientes, Mexico   Brittney Tam 21–15, 24–22   Gold
2022 Palacio de los Deportes Carlos "El Famoso" Hernández, San Salvador, El Salvador   Beiwen Zhang 21–18, 16–21, 25–23   Gold
2023 G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, Kingston, Jamaica   Beiwen Zhang 21–19, 21–9   Gold
2024 Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium, Guatemala City, Guatemala   Beiwen Zhang 18–21, 21–18, 17–21   Silver

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Clube Curitibano,
Curitiba, Brazil 		  Alex Bruce   Grace Gao
  Joycelyn Ko 		21–16, 21–23, 12–21   Silver
2013 Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto,
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 		  Grace Gao   Eva Lee
  Paula Lynn Obañana 		21–16, 11–21, 6–21   Bronze

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2008 Club de Regatas,
Lima, Peru 		  Adrian Liu   Toby Ng
  Valerie Loker 		14–21, 15–21   Bronze

Commonwealth Youth Games edit

Girls' doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2008 Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, India   Alexandra Bruce   P. C. Thulasi
  N. Sikki Reddy 		18–21, 8–21   Silver

BWF World Tour (3 titles, 1 runner-up) edit

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[16] 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 BWF World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[17]

Women's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result
2018 Macau Open Super 300   Han Yue 23–25, 21–17, 21–15   Winner
2019 Chinese Taipei Open Super 300   Sung Ji-hyun 11–21, 9–21   Runner-up
2019 Macau Open Super 300   Han Yue 21–18, 21–8   Winner
2022 Canada Open Super 100   Sung Shuo-yun 21–16, 21–15   Winner

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 3 runners-up) edit

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.

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2013 Macau Open   P. V. Sindhu 15–21, 12–21   Runner-up
2014 Canada Open   Pai Yu-po 21–16, 23–21   Winner
2015 Canada Open   Kaori Imabeppu 21–17, 25–23   Winner
2016 Canada Open   Beiwen Zhang Walkover   Winner
2017 U.S. Open   Aya Ohori 11–21, 19–21   Runner-up
2017 Dutch Open   Beiwen Zhang 16–21, 14–21   Runner-up
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (22 titles, 9 runners-up) edit

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2010 Peru International   Manami Ebuchi 18–21, 17–21   Runner-up
2010 Canadian International   Hitomi Oka 21–15, 12–21, 21–23   Runner-up
2011 Dutch International   Susan Egelstaff 18–21, 21–13, 15–21   Runner-up
2011 Guatemala International   Jeanine Cicognini 21–15, 21–13   Winner
2011 Brazil International   Kana Ito 21–15, 21–15   Winner
2011 Puerto Rico International   Anne Hald Jensen 21–13, 29–27   Winner
2011 Canadian International   Lianne Tan 21–14, 21–11   Winner
2012 Finnish Open   Yao Jie 20–22, 19–21   Runner-up
2012 Peru International   Ai Goto 21–23, 21–14, 21–15   Winner
2012 Tahiti International   Nicole Grether 21–8, 21–13   Winner
2013 Maldives International   Hana Ramadhini 21–8, 21–13   Winner
2013 Canadian International   Christin Tsai 21–14, 21–19   Winner
2013 Brazil International   Lohaynny Vicente 16–21, 21-15, 21-8   Winner
2014 Peru International   Beiwen Zhang 25–27, 19–21   Runner-up
2014 Belgian International   Karin Schnaase 11–6, 11–2, 11–6   Winner
2014 Czech International   Marija Ulitina 21–14, 21–17   Winner
2017 Peru International   Disha Gupta 21–10, 21–10   Winner
2022 Canadian International   Natsuki Nidaira 21–11, 21–17   Winner

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2011 Banuinvest International   Alex Bruce   Sonia Olariu
  Florentina Petre 		21–15, 21–14   Winner
2011 Peru International   Alex Bruce   Iris Wang
  Rena Wang 		11–21, 21–15, 21–8   Winner
2011 Brazil International   Alex Bruce   Eva Lee
  Paula Lynn Obañana 		14–21, 17–21   Runner-up
2011 Puerto Rico International   Alex Bruce   Grace Gao
  Joycelyn Ko 		24–22, 15–21, 21–11   Winner
2011 Canadian International   Alex Bruce   Nicole Grether
  Charmaine Reid 		21–10, 13–21, 21–16   Winner
2012 Finnish Open   Alex Bruce   Chow Mei Kuan
  Lee Meng Yean 		21–19, 12–21, 21–16   Winner
2012 Peru International   Alex Bruce   Nicole Grether
  Charmaine Reid 		21–18, 21–18   Winner
2012 Tahiti International   Alex Bruce   Eva Lee
  Paula Lynn Obañana 		13–21, 12–21   Runner-up
2013 Peru International   Grace Gao   Joycelyn Ko
  Christin Tsai 		21–15, 21–18   Winner
2014 Czech International   Rachel Honderich   Irina Khlebko
  Elena Komendrovskaja 		21–12, 21–17   Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2013 Brazil International   Yang Chih-hsun   Phillip Chew
  Jamie Subandhi 		13–21, 19–21   Runner-up
2013 USA International   Toby Ng   Halim Haryanto
  Jing Yu Hong 		21–16, 21–15   Winner
2014 Peru International   Derrick Ng   Christian Yahya Christianto
  Eva Lee 		16–21, 18–21   Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

Performance timeline edit

Key
W F SF QF #R RR Q# A G S B NH N/A DNQ
(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze medal; (NH) not held; (N/A) not applicable; (DNQ) did not qualify.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Career overview edit

Individual competitions edit

  • Senior level
Events 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Pan Am Championships NH A G G NH A QF G G NH A G G
World Championships 2R NH 1R 3R 3R NH 2R 2R 3R NH 3R QF 2R
Olympic Games NH RR Not Held RR Not Held R16 Not Held
Commonwealth Games Not Held G Not Held 4th Not Held S NH
Tournament BWF Superseries / Grand Prix BWF World Tour Best
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
German Open A 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R A 1R 1R Not Held QF A SF SF ('24)
All England Open A 1R 1R QF 1R 1R A 2R 1R 1R A 2R 1R 2R QF ('14)
Swiss Open A 1R A 2R QF Absent 2R NH A QF 2R QF ('15,'22)
Korea Open A 1R Absent 2R A 2R 1R SF Not Held 1R w/d SF ('19)
Thailand Open Absent Not Held Absent 1R QF A QF NH QF QF QF ('18,'20 I, '20 II,'22,'23)
QF
Indonesia Masters Absent NH 1R A QF 1R 1R 1R 2R QF ('20)
Indonesia Open Absent 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R NH 1R 1R 1R 2R ('18,'19)
Malaysia Masters Absent NH 2R 1R NH A 1R QF QF ('23)
Malaysia Open A 1R Absent 2R A Not Held 1R 2R 1R 2R ('18,'23)
Singapore Open Absent 2R A 2R A Not Held w/d 2R 2R ('16, '18, '23)
Chinese Taipei Open Absent 2R Absent 1R F Not Held w/d A F ('19)
Japan Open Absent 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R SF Not held A w/d SF ('19)
Canada Open QF SF 2R W W W 1R 2R QF Not Held W 2R W ('14,'15,'16,'22)
U.S. Open 1R A 1R QF 1R SF F SF SF Not Held A F ('17)
Denmark Open Absent QF A 2R 2R 2R SF w/d 2R A SF ('20)
French Open 1R Absent 1R 1R Absent 1R 1R NH w/d 1R A 1R 1R ('11, '14, '15, '18, '19, '22, '24)
Hylo Open Absent SF w/d A 2R Absent SF w/d A SF ('14, '21)
Macau Open 2R A F QF Absent W W Not Held W ('18,'19)
Hong Kong Open 2R Absent 1R 1R A QF 2R 1R Not Held w/d QF ('17)
Australian Open Absent QF 1R 1R 1R QF Not Held A QF ('15, '19)
China Open Absent 2R A 2R 1R 1R Not Held w/d 2R ('15,'17)
China Masters Absent w/d 1R A 2R SF NH A SF ('19)
Superseries / Tour Finals DNQ RR DNQ RR DNQ RR ('18,'20)
Thailand Masters Not Held Absent QF A Not Held A 1R QF ('19)
Year-end ranking 24 35 24 14 15 34 21 13 8 10 11 14 24 8

Record against selected opponents edit

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 19 September 2023[18]

References edit

  1. ^ "Michelle Li Guadalajara profile". Canadian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on October 31, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  2. ^ "Michelle Li". Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website. October 25, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  3. ^ Mike Hayakawa (February 27, 2011). "Golden Markham athlete carries flag in closing ceremonies". YorkRegion.com.
  4. ^ "Pan Am Games: Canadian Trail". CBC Sports. October 19, 2011.
  5. ^ "Canada wins 5 golds at Pan Am Games". CBC News. October 20, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Lidell, Mackenzie (August 1, 2012). "Canada Gains from Badminton Scandal, Advances to Semis". CTV Olympics. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  7. ^ "8 Badminton Players Disqualified for Throwing Matches". CTV Olympics. Associated Press. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  8. ^ "Olympedia – Singles, Women". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  9. ^ "Glasgow 2014: Scot Kirsty Gilmour misses out on badminton gold". BBC News Online. August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  10. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Michelle Li wins historic badminton gold". CBC. August 3, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  11. ^ "Michelle Li wins gold in women's badminton at Pan Am Games". The Globe and Mail. July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  12. ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Sports- (June 16, 2021). "Un record de huit Canadiens en badminton à Tokyo | Jeux olympiques". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  13. ^ Freeborn, Jeremy (August 8, 2022). "Michelle Li wins silver medal in women's badminton at 2022 Commonwealth Games". Canadian Sport Scene. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  14. ^ Lloyd, Owen (August 25, 2022). "Upsets characterise round of 16 at Badminton World Championships". Inside the Games. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  15. ^ Kng, Zheng Guan (August 26, 2022). "World champ blown away by Thai-phoon". New Straits Times. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  16. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (March 19, 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  17. ^ Sukumar, Dev (January 10, 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on January 13, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  18. ^ "Head to Head analysis – Michelle Li". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved September 22, 2023.

External links edit

 
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