Wang Yihan
DOB: 18/1/1988 Event: Badminton Honours: 1 World Title Flag: CHN
Last Updated: 01/11/11 10:06am
A former Asian and World Junior champion, Wang's star seems to be on the rise after she captured the World Championship in 2011 at Wembley Arena.
An early starter, Wang was already playing and being coached at the age of just nine, and made her way into the junior team in 2004.
Winning the girl's singles at the Asian and World Junior Championships was just the start to an amazing 2006 for Wang as she also went on to land the Badminton World Cup event in the same year.
In 2009, aged just 21, Wang defeated Denmark's Tine Rasmussen to win the prestigious All England Championships and by the close of the year she was ranked as the world number one to complete a remarkable rise up the standings.
In all, Wang won seven titles in 2009 including a team gold in the Sudirman Cup with the dominant Chinese team again taking home the spoils.
Although not the top-ranked player in the draw, world number two Wang enjoyed the best possible Olympic warm-up as she claimed the 2011 World Championship gold in the same venue that will host the London 2012 event.
Wang played superbly at Wembley Arena, showing a liking for the Olympic venue, as she beat Chinese Tapei's Cheng Shao-chieh in the final.
