Liu Yuchen

Liu Yuchen (, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018, two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018, and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnered with Li Junhui. Liu was part of the national team that won the 2018 Asian Games, 2018 Thomas Cup, and 2019 Sudirman Cup. Together with Li, he achieved the men's doubles world number 1 in 6 April 2017, and occupied the top ranking for ten weeks.

Personal life
His sister, Liu Jing, is a swimmer.

Liu is often jokingly called Hendra Setiawan's 'eldest son' by fans, due to his public admiration towards the elder shuttler and his closeness with Setiawan's family. Liu himself has acknowledged the joke in an Instagram post with Setiawan's family during the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta.

Career
Liu competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Partnered with Li Junhui, he won a silver medal in the men's doubles after being defeated by Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei in the final in straight games, 18–21, 12–21. Following the loss, he and Li received immense backlash from Chinese netizens for being unable to win the gold medal.

In 2022, Liu started a new partnership with Ou Xuanyi after Li Junhui's retirement. 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. They qualified to compete at the World Tour Finals and emerged victorious after beating Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the final.

In 2023, Liu and Ou helped the Chinese national team reach the final round 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, Liu and Ou saved four match points being down 16–20 in the deciding set and converted their first to keep China alive in the tie. They eventually got into the final. Liu said after the match, "We didn’t think too much. We played each point. We kept doing what we did towards the end. It’s unbelievable." After compatriot and world no. 1 Jia Yifan won the deciding rubber, she stated, "We wouldn’t be here if not for the men’s doubles, they did a great job." Ultimately, the Chinese national team went on to win the 2023 Sudirman Cup.

Olympic Games
Men's doubles

BWF World Championships
Men's doubles

Asian Games
Men's doubles

Asian Championships
Men's doubles

BWF World Junior Championships
Boys' doubles

Mixed doubles

Asian Junior Championships
Boys' doubles

Mixed doubles

BWF World Tour (7 titles, 7 runners-up)
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017, and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's doubles

BWF Superseries (2 titles, 3 runners-up)
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006, and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's doubles
 * BWF Superseries Finals tournament
 * BWF Superseries Premier tournament
 * BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (7 titles, 2 runners-up)
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.

Men's doubles

Mixed doubles
 * BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
 * BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 runners-up)
Men's doubles

Mixed doubles
 * BWF International Challenge tournament
 * BWF International Series tournament