Wei Yili
# Wei Yili

Wei Yili (simplified Chinese: 魏轶力; traditional Chinese: 魏軼力; pinyin: Wèi Yìlì; born 24 June 1982) is a former badminton player from China.

## Career

A women's doubles specialist, since 2001 Wei has competed on the world circuit in partnership with a variety of her fellow countrywomen, but most often with Zhang Jiewen, Zhao Tingting or Zhang Yawen. A member of China's perennial world champion Uber Cup teams, in the biggest events for individual players (such as the BWF World Championships, the All-England Championships, and the Olympic Games) Wei and her partners have usually been overshadowed by China's two dominant women's doubles pairs, Gao Ling and Huang Sui, and Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen. One exception came at the 2007 All-Englands where Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen defeated both of these teams to capture the highly coveted title. Her other women's doubles titles include the China (2001), Singapore (2001, 2007), Denmark (2002, 2004), Thailand (2003), Indonesia (2006), and French (2007) Opens.

Wei has medaled four times at the BWF World Championships without "striking gold". She earned a silver with Zhang Jiewen in 2001, a silver with Zhao Tingting in 2003, a silver with Zhang Yawen in 2006, and a bronze with Zhang Yawen in 2007. She finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics in Athens with Zhao Tingting. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics Wei and Zhang Yawen were beaten in the semifinals by yet another Chinese pair, Du Jing and Yu Yang, who went on to win the gold medal. Wei and Zhang earned a bronze medal by defeating Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna in the playoff for third place.

In 2008, Wei retired from the national team. She received an award during a ceremony to mark her retirement with five other teammates from the Chinese national badminton team on the sidelines of the China Open badminton event in Shanghai, November 23, 2008. However, she was still playing a year later by partnering with Gao Ling. They lost to Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen in the Thailand Open final of 2009, but won the Philippines Open of 2009.

## Achievements

### Olympic Games

Women's doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, Beijing, China | Zhang Yawen | Miyuki Maeda Satoko Suetsuna | 21–17, 21–10 | Bronze |

### BWF World Championships

Women's doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2001 | Palacio de Deportes de San Pablo, Seville, Spain | Zhang Jiewen | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 11–15, 15–17 | Silver |
| 2003 | National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England | Zhao Tingting | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 8–15, 11–15 | Silver |
| 2006 | Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain | Zhang Yawen | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 21–23, 9–21 | Silver |
| 2007 | Putra Indoor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 21–19, 18–21, 16–21 | Bronze |

### World Cup

Women's doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | Olympic Park, Yiyang, China | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 18–21, 15–21 | Silver |

### Asian Championships

Women's doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2002 | Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | Zhao Tingting | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 5–11, 1–11 | Bronze |

### World Junior Championships

Girls' doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2000 | Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China | Zhang Yawen | Li Yujia Zhao Tingting | 4–7, 7–2, 7–0, 7–1 | Gold |

Mixed doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2000 | Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China | Zheng Bo | Sang Yang Zhang Yawen | 3–7, 0–7, 6–8 | Silver |

### Asian Junior Championships

Girls' doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1999 | National Indoor Stadium – 1, Yangon, Myanmar | Li Yujia | Xie Xingfang Zhang Jiewen | 9–15, 6–15 | Silver |
| 2000 | Nishiyama Park Gymnasium, Kyoto, Japan | Zhang Yawen | Li Yujia Zhao Tingting | 15–12, 15–5 | Gold |

Mixed doubles

| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1999 | National Indoor Stadium – 1, Yangon, Myanmar | Zheng Bo | Hendri Kurniawan Saputra Enny Erlangga | 12–15, 16–17 | Silver |
| 2000 | Nishiyama Park Gymnasium, Kyoto, Japan | Zheng Bo | Sang Yang Zhang Yawen | Walkover | Gold |

### BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.

Women's doubles

| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | All England Open | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 21–16, 8–21, 24–22 | Winner |
| 2007 | Singapore Open | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhao Tingting | 10–21, 21–19, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2007 | French Open | Zhang Yawen | Yu Yang Zhao Tingting | 21–10, 21–15 | Winner |
| 2007 | Hong Kong Open | Zhang Yawen | Du Jing Yu Yang | 20–22, 21–13, 17–21 | Runner-up |
| 2008 | Swiss Open | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 18–21, 24–22, 8–21 | Runner-up |

    BWF Superseries Finals tournament
    BWF Superseries Premier tournament
    BWF Superseries tournament

### BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.

Women's doubles

| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2000 | Denmark Open | Zhang Jiewen | Chen Lin Jiang Xuelian | 7–15, 3–15 | Runner-up |
| 2001 | All England Open | Zhang Jiewen | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 15–10, 8–15, 9–15 | Runner-up |
| 2001 | Singapore Open | Zhang Jiewen | Zhang Yawen Zhao Tingting | 8–6, 7–3, 7–4 | Winner |
| 2001 | China Open | Zhang Jiewen | Huang Nanyan Yang Wei | 8–6, 7–3, 6–8, 8–7 | Winner |
| 2002 | Denmark Open | Zhao Tingting | Mia Audina Lotte Jonathans | 11–3, 6–11, 11–9 | Winner |
| 2002 | China Open | Zhao Tingting | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 9–11, 3–11 | Runner-up |
| 2003 | Thailand Open | Zhao Tingting | Lee Hyo-jung Yim Kyung-jin | 11–9, 5–11, 11–6 | Winner |
| 2003 | Swiss Open | Zhao Tingting | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 7–11, 11–6, 4–11 | Runner-up |
| 2003 | Japan Open | Zhao Tingting | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 13–10, 6–11, 5–11 | Runner-up |
| 2004 | Japan Open | Zhao Tingting | Lee Kyung-won Ra Kyung-min | 6–15, 15–5, 1–15 | Runner-up |
| 2004 | Denmark Open | Zhao Tingting | Zhang Dan Zhang Yawen | 15–13, 12–15, 15–7 | Winner |
| 2004 | German Open | Zhao Tingting | Zhang Dan Zhang Yawen | 8–15, 12–15 | Runner-up |
| 2004 | China Open | Zhao Tingting | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 14–15, 12–15 | Runner-up |
| 2005 | German Open | Zhao Tingting | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 4–15, 10–15 | Runner-up |
| 2005 | All England Open | Zhao Tingting | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 10–15, 13–15 | Runner-up |
| 2005 | Japan Open | Zhao Tingting | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 12–15, 2–15 | Runner-up |
| 2006 | China Masters | Zhang Yawen | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 12–21, 21–18, 14–21 | Runner-up |
| 2006 | Indonesia Open | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 21–13, 21–13 | Winner |
| 2006 | Japan Open | Zhang Yawen | Gao Ling Huang Sui | 15–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
| 2006 | China Open | Zhang Yawen | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 17–21, 7–21 | Runner-up |
| 2009 | Philippines Open | Gao Ling | Shendy Puspa Irawati Meiliana Jauhari | 21–11, 21–11 | Winner |
| 2009 | Thailand Open | Gao Ling | Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen | 24–22, 17–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |

    BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
    BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

### IBF International

Women's doubles

| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2002 | French International | Zhang Jiewen | Zhang Yawen Zhao Tingting | 7–1, 7–2, 5–7, 5–7, 2–7 | Runner-up |
