Xia Xuanze (born 5 January 1979) is a former badminton player from China who played singles at the world level from the late 1990s through the first few years of the 21st century. Now he is a singles coach for the national team of China.

Xia Xuanze
夏煊泽
Personal information
CountryChina
Born (1979-01-05) 5 January 1979 (age 45)
Rui'an, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China[1]
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
HandednessRight
EventMen's singles
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Men's singles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003 Birmingham Men's singles
Thomas Cup
Gold medal – first place 2004 Jakarta Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Sendai–Tokyo Men's team
Silver medal – second place 2000 Kuala Lumpur Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Guangzhou Men's team
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Busan Men's team
Asia Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Manila Men's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Bangkok Men's singles
East Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 1997 Busan Men's team
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Silkeborg Boys' singles
Asia Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Manila Boys' team
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Manila Boys' singles
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Manila Boys' doubles
Xia Xuanze
Traditional Chinese夏煊澤
Simplified Chinese夏煊泽

Career edit

At one time or another he experienced victory in most of badminton's biggest events. The exception came in his sole appearance at the Olympics when he was beaten in the semifinals of the 2000 Games in Sydney by Indonesia's Hendrawan. Xia settled for a bronze medal there after defeating Denmark's Peter Gade in the playoff for third place.[2] Earlier in that season, Xia had won the prestigious All-England Championships over eighteen-year-old Taufik Hidayat. He captured men's singles at the IBF World Championships in 2003 by defeating Malaysia's Wong Choong Hann. Finally, in international team play, he was a member of the Chinese squad that ended a long drought by capturing the highly coveted Thomas Cup (men's world team competition and trophy) in 2004.

In 2010 Thomas Cup, Xia coached Chen Jin, witnessing his country win 3–0 over Indonesia for their fourth consecutive Thomas Cup.

In 2017, Xia Xuanze together with Zhang Jun replaced Li Yongbo as head coach of the Chinese badminton team.[3]

Player attributes edit

Xia's game was marked by impressive speed and agility, aggressive and accurate net play, and adequate, if not overwhelming, overhead power. The power he used in his legs allowed him to "play the shot" very early. This attribute, combined with very sophisticated and consistent deceptive shots, gave some of his opponents the opportunity to win very few points at all.

Achievements edit

Olympic Games edit

Men's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2000Pavilion 3, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia Peter Gade15–13, 15–5 Bronze

World Championships edit

Men's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2003National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom Wong Choong Hann15–6, 13–15, 15–6 Gold

Asian Championships edit

Men's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2001PhilSports Arena, Manila, Philippines Lin Dan15–10, 15–9 Gold
2002Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand Taufik Hidayat2–15, 11–15 Bronze

IBF World Grand Prix edit

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Men's singles

YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1999German Open Pullela Gopichand15–4, 13–15, 15–4 Winner
1999Dutch Open Ji Xinpeng15–10, 15–13 Winner
2000All England Open Taufik Hidayat15–6, 15–13 Winner
2000Swiss Open Ji Xinpeng15–8, 15–6 Winner
2000Malaysia Open Taufik Hidayat10–15, 14–17 Runner-up
2000World Grand Prix Finals Marleve Mainaky7–4, 7–5, 2–7, 8–6 Winner
2001China Open Wong Choong Hann3–7, 7–3, 2–7, 7–5, 7–4 Winner
2002Japan Open Lee Hyun-il7–5, 5–7, 7–0, 5–7, 2–5 Runner-up
2003Japan Open Lin Dan15–12, 15–10 Winner
2004Korea Open Chen Hong15–9, 17–15 Winner
2004Denmark Open Lin Dan12–15, 11–15 Runner-up
2004German Open Lin Dan16–17, 9–15 Runner-up
2006Swiss Open Lee Chong Wei8–15, 0–15 Runner-up

References edit

  1. ^ "Biographical information: Xia Xuanze". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Xia Xuanze". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
  3. ^ "Chinese badminton head coach Li Yongbo replaced by Xia Xuanze and Zhang Jun". www.chinadailyhk.com. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2020.