Zhao Yunlei ( 赵芸蕾 )

Time to get on board with the rising star Zhao Yunlei (赵芸蕾/趙芸蕾)

The Zhao Yunlei/Cheng Shu WD team went from nowhere to top ten ranking in three months. Surely, they benefited from the absence and retirements of some top teams. Nevertheless, they did it, not others.

WD World Ranking as at December 4, 2008: 10th with Cheng Shu
BWF Profile: http://www.internationalbadminton.org/pair_info.asp?pairid=94794


The Zhao Yunlei/Xu Chen MD team is also on the rise. With one Gold GP win and one 2nd place finish in a SS event.

MD World Ranking as at December 4, 2008: 49th with Xu Chen (3 events played)
BWF Profile: http://www.internationalbadminton.org/pair_info.asp?pairid=58700


Both of Zhao Yunlei's parents were athletes. Her mother is a tennis coach who thinks girls shouldn't be tanned as much as tennis players. Therefore, badminton, being indoor and away from the sun, became ZYL's sport.

Both Zhao YL and Cheng Shu were singles players on the junior National Team. They were switched to doubles when entering the National 2nd Team where Zhao was the captain of the WD team.


Zhao YL was Gao Ling's WD partner at the 10th National Games. Zhao: "Gao Ling is not only a good player, but also an impeccable person. There are so much to learn from." "There are too much too learn. The only way is one step at a time."

Although the Zhao/Cheng team has yet to beat Du/Yu. Zhao, partnered with Wang Xiaoli, beat Du/Yu in the final of 2007 National Championship.

Acid Test for commentators: lesser commentators would presumably call the bigger Cheng Shu is the attacking specialist on the Z/C team. Expert commentators would point out that Zhao is the better attacker.

Comment by a former player on the Macao MD Final (won by Zhao/Xu): "Zhao YunLei is at a different level from the other three players."

Current state of the game: fierce attacker at and away from the net, the Z/C team can attack relentlessly like Yang Wei/Zhang Jie Wen at their prime; high unforced errors.


One final salute to YW/ZJW. ZYL/CS in 2012

 

Oops. Obviously, the reference to MD should have been XD in the above. Not sure why I can't edit.

 

Zhao YunLei at the Beijing Olympics ... Torch Relay

... in her home town of YiChang, also the home town of bronze medalist Wei Yili.

Waiting


More waiting


Receiving the flame


Sprinting away

 

I can't help but laugh at those torch relay pictures. Is it even possible to take a worse set of pictures?

On the other hand, I am amazed at what can be found on the Net. I think neither the photographer nor myself had any idea who ZYL was.

The pictures were from http://www.tianya.cn/publicforum/content/sport/1/134182.shtml. Torch Bearers on that day included 001 Li Ting (Olympics WD Gold Medalist ... in tennis) and 159 Karen Mok (Hong Kong pop star). "003" on the shirt was the only thing that tied the pictures to ZYL.

 

Travel Advisement

With the absence from SS Masters, Zhao YunLei Express is now in maintenance until March 2009. Please hold on to your tickets for the next ride

Meanwhile, the first international title and the neck breaking medals at Austrian International Championships 2007


Another One Heart Pose

 

Zhao Yunlei Express is now Autobahn certified.

First competition of the year, two titles at German Open.

It's going to get more interesting at AE. CS/ZYL is the lone Chinese entry in the top half of the WD draw. In XD, the first match is a replay of the GO Final, against ZB/MJ.

 

You sound like LYB. From the team perspective, it is better to have the MX specialists to go through. It is a big task for ZYL to defend both halves of WD and XD.

 

ZYW and ZTT are at their peak in each and every way. Let's see if CS/ZYL can finally win one at Swiss Open.

 

Nice calculation. They are now indeed No. 3.

Cheng Su wants to win the World Championship. This should at least qualify them for a spot. Now, only if they can figure out a way to beat ZTT/ZYW,