Ou Xuanyi (Chinese: 歐烜屹; pinyin: Ōu Xǔanyì; born 23 January 1994) is a Chinese badminton player.[2] He was part of China winning team in the 2019 Asia Mixed Team Championships, 2022 Asian Games, 2023 Sudirman Cup, and at the 2024 Thomas Cup. He has won eight World Tour titles, and reached a career high as World number 2 in the men's doubles on 30 May 2023.

Ou Xuanyi
歐烜屹
Personal information
CountryChina
Born (1994-01-23) 23 January 1994 (age 30)
Fujian, China[1]
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Years active2013–present
Retired20 August 2024
HandednessRight
Men's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking2 (MD with Liu Yuchen, 30 May 2023)
23 (XD with Feng Xueying, 17 September 2019)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  China
Sudirman Cup
Gold medal – first place 2023 Suzhou Mixed team
Thomas Cup
Gold medal – first place 2024 Chengdu Men's team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Men's team
Asia Mixed Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Hong Kong Mixed team
BWF profile

Career summary

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Ou made his debut in an international tournament by competing at the 2013 China Masters.[3] In 2017, he clinched his first international title by winning the mixed doubles title at the Indonesia International Series tournament partnered with Liu Lin.[4]

Ou started the 2018 season by competing at the Lingshui China Masters, and finished as the semi-finalist in the mixed doubles event partnered with Chen Lu.[5] He then won the men's doubles title at the U.S. Open teamed up with Ren Xiangyu, and also the runner-up at the Singapore Open. Together with Feng Xueying, he won the mixed doubles title at the Syed Modi International, which is a Super 300 BWF tournament.[6]

From 2022, Ou started a new partnership with the reigning Olympic silver medalist Liu Yuchen. In the Indonesia Open, the duo beat Korea's Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho to become the first men’s doubles pair from the reserves’ list to win a Super 1000 title.[7] They qualified to compete at the World Tour Finals and emerged victorious after beating Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the final.[8] As a result he broke into the top ten for the first time in his career.[9]

In 2023, Ou and Liu helped the national team reach the final of the Sudirman Cup. Facing former world no.1 pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semi-finals while Japan was leading the tie 2–1, Ou and Liu saved four match points being 16–20 down and converting their first to keep China alive in the tie. They eventually got into the final. Ou said after the match, "During the third game after the interval, I rushed a bit and all my shots went long. When we were match point down, I was calm as we were sure to lose the game. Liu Yu Chen just told me to play my game." Compatriot and world no.1 Jia Yifan said after she won the deciding rubber, "We wouldn’t be here if not for the men’s doubles, they did a great job."[10] Ultimately, the Chinese national team went on to win the 2023 Sudirman Cup.[11]

 
Ou (top right) with his partner Liu Yuchen after won the match against American pair Vinson Chiu and Joshua Yuan in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

In 2024, Ou helps the national team won the 2024 Thomas Cup. In the BWF World Tour, Ou and his partner Liu did not win a single title, their best achievement were a semi-finalist at the Indonesia Masters. Based on the BWF Race to Paris rankings, Ou with his partner qualified to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics. In his debut at the Olympics, Ou and Liu won 2 matches and lost 2 matches in the men's doubles group D, thus being eliminated in the group stage.[12] China men's doubles coach, Chen Qiqiu confirmed that Ou has submitted an application for retirement from the national team on 19 August 2024,[13] and one day later, he officially retired from international badminton.[14]

Achievements

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BWF World Tour (8 titles, 7 runners-up)

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The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[15] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[16]

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result
2018 U.S. Open Super 300   Ren Xiangyu   Kang Min-hyuk
  Kim Won-ho
16–21, 21–16, 21–17   Winner
2018 Singapore Open Super 500   Ren Xiangyu   Mohammad Ahsan
  Hendra Setiawan
13–21, 19–21   Runner-up
2019 Lingshui China Masters Super 100   Ren Xiangyu   Lee Jhe-huei
  Yang Po-hsuan
17–21, 16–21   Runner-up
2019 Akita Masters Super 100   Zhang Nan   Akira Koga
  Taichi Saito
21–14, 21–19   Winner
2019 Indonesia Masters Super 100   Zhang Nan   Akira Koga
  Taichi Saito
11–21, 21–10, 22–20   Winner
2022 German Open Super 300   Liu Yuchen   Goh Sze Fei
  Nur Izzuddin
21–23, 21–16, 14–21   Runner-up
2022 Korea Masters Super 300   Liu Yuchen   Kim Gi-jung
  Kim Sa-rang
14–21, 16–21   Runner-up
2022 Indonesia Open Super 1000   Liu Yuchen   Choi Sol-gyu
  Kim Won-ho
21–17, 23–21   Winner
2022 Australian Open Super 300   Liu Yuchen   Ong Yew Sin
  Teo Ee Yi
21–16, 22–20   Winner
2022 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals   Liu Yuchen   Mohammad Ahsan
  Hendra Setiawan
21–17, 19–21, 21–12   Winner
2023 Hylo Open Super 300   Liu Yuchen   Lee Yang
  Wang Chi-lin
24–22, 21–13   Winner
2023 Japan Masters Super 500   Liu Yuchen   He Jiting
  Ren Xiangyu
14–21, 21–15, 15–21   Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result
2018 Syed Modi International Super 300   Feng Xueying   Rinov Rivaldy
  Pitha Haningtyas Mentari
22–20, 21–10   Winner
2022 German Open Super 300   Huang Yaqiong   Dechapol Puavaranukroh
  Sapsiree Taerattanachai
11–21, 9–21   Runner-up
2022 Korea Masters Super 300   Huang Yaqiong   Wang Yilyu
  Huang Dongping
17–21, 17–21   Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles)

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Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Belarus International   Zhang Nan   Matthew Clare
  Max Flynn
21–15, 21–15   Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 Indonesia International   Liu Lin   Lukhi Apri Nugroho
  Ririn Amelia
22–20, 21–11   Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References

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  1. ^ a b "欧烜屹 Ou Xuan Yi" (in Chinese). Badmintoncn.com. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Players: Ou Xuanyi". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  3. ^ "2013中国羽毛球大师赛比赛赛程,直播时间表" (in Chinese). Sina. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Indonesia and Malaysia win titles each in Surabaya". Badminton Asia. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. ^ "2018中国(陵水)国际羽毛球大师赛 小将陆光祖逆转队友孙飞翔晋级决赛" (in Chinese). HNDnews.com. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  6. ^ "漳州双星闪耀双打赛场" (in Chinese). 厦门第一门户网站. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Indonesia Open: Milestones continue to tumble". BWF. 19 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Perfect finish to first season together". Badminton World Federation. 12 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Players: Ou Xuanyi". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  10. ^ Sukumar, Dev (21 May 2023). "One point too far for Japan". BWF. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  11. ^ Sukumar, Dev (21 May 2023). "Sweet 13th for China". BWF. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  12. ^ Sukumar, Dev (1 August 2024). "Danes Survive Group of Death". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  13. ^ "国羽刘雨辰/欧烜屹、谭强已经提交退役申请,将退出国际赛场". QQ News (in Chinese). 19 August 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  14. ^ ""各位,我先下船了" 刘雨辰深情告别". 中國報 China Press (in Chinese). 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  15. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  16. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
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