Zhou Mi

Zhou Mi (; Yale: Chau1 Mat6; born February 18, 1979 in Nanning, Guangxi) is a Chinese female badminton player. During much of her career she represented the People's Republic of China, but since 2007 she has represented Hong Kong which has a sports program and teams independent from those of the mainland.

Career

Since 1998 Zhou has won more than twenty international singles titles on the world circuit and has achieved number one world rankings at various times. She was a silver medalist behind compatriot Gong Ruina at the 2001 IBF World Championships and was a bronze medalist at the 2003 Championships. She won women's singles at the quadrennial Asian Games in 2002, defeating Gong Ruina in the final. Zhou is a three time finalist at the prestigious All-England Championships where she captured the title in 2003. She played singles for world champion Chinese Uber Cup (women's international) teams in 2002 and 2004.

Olympic Controversy

At the 2004 Athens Olympics Zhou reached the semifinal round where she was eliminated from gold medal contention by fellow countrywoman Zhang Ning. She then defeated Gong Ruina in the playoff for the bronze medal. The circumstances behind Zhou's semifinal defeat are controversial, however, because China's national coach Li Yongbo later confirmed rumors that he had instructed Zhou not to fight hard after she had dropped the first game to Zhang. His rationale was that a fresh Zhang Ning would have a...
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