Huaiwen Xu

Huaiwen Xu (simplified Chinese: 徐怀雯; traditional Chinese: 徐懷雯; pinyin: Xú Huáiwén; born 2 August 1975) is a German badminton player. Born in Guiyang, Guizhou, China, she decided to play for Germany because the Chinese thought that she was too short to play professional world badminton.[1]

Huaiwen Xu
Personal information
Birth name	徐懷雯
Country	Germany
Born	2 August 1975 Guiyang, Guizhou, China
Height	160 cm (5 ft 3 in)
Handedness	Right
Event	Women's singles
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  Germany World Championships 2005 Anaheim Women's singles 2006 Madrid Women's singles Uber Cup 2008 Jakarta Women's team European Championships 2006 Den Bosch Women's singles 2008 Herning Women's singles European Women's Team Championships 2008 Almere Women's team 2006 Thessalonica Women's team

Career

Xu was among the most successful of a number of Chinese-born female players who emigrated from their badminton-rich homeland, in part, for a better opportunity to play in the world's biggest events. Beginning in 2003 when she won a spate of middle tier open tournaments in Europe, Xu went on to become one of the more consistent performers on the international circuit. She was a women's singles bronze medalist twice at the BWF World Championships (2005 and 2006) and won European Championships in 2006 and 2008 over Mia Audina and Tine Rasmussen respectively in the finals.[2][3] At the 2008 Beijing Olympics Xu was eliminated in a close quarterfinal match by China's Xie Xingfang, the world's number one ranked player.

Among Xu's more than twenty national and international singles titles are the Scottish (2003), Polish (2003), Dutch (2005), and Swiss (2006) Opens, the Copenhagen Masters (2007), and five consecutive (2004–2008) German National Championships. Notably, she earned all of these titles after turning 27, an age at which world level singles players often feel that their best years are behind them.

Xu retired from playing on the international circuit in 2009 and worked as a coach for two years at the Bellevue Badminton Club near Seattle, teaching the Junior National team of young badminton players hoping to succeed in professional badminton. In 2010, she was appointed as an International Olympic Committee athlete role model for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. From 2011 to 2012, she served the Dutch Badminton Association as their National Coach.

Personal life

Xu speaks fluent Chinese, German and English.[1] She is married to Matthew Curtain, the Director of Sport of the Commonwealth Games Federation. The couple has a daughter.

Achievements

World Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2006	Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain	Xie Xingfang	12–21, 10–21	Bronze
2005	Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, United States	Zhang Ning	7–11, 9–11	Bronze

European Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2008	Messecenter Herning, Herning, Denmark	Tine Rasmussen	12–21, 21–12, 21–17	Gold
2006	Maaspoort Sports and Events, Den Bosch, Netherlands	Mia Audina Tjiptawan	15–21, 21–9, 21–16	Gold

World Grand Prix

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2006	Bitburger Open	Maria Kristin Yulianti	21–17, 21–17	Winner
2006	Swiss Open	Zhu Lin	11–9, 11–4	Winner
2005	Dutch Open	Yao Jie	11–7, 11–2	Winner
2005	Bitburger Open	Xing Aiying	11–3, 11–2	Winner
2005	Thessaloniki World Grand Prix	Juliane Schenk	11–2, 11–5	Winner
2005	Swiss Open	Pi Hongyan	12–13, 6–11	Runner-up
2004	German Open	Xie Xingfang	11–9, 6–11, 7–11	Runner-up
1997	Vietnam Open	Susi Susanti	4–11, 1–11	Runner-up
1994	US Open	Liu Guimei	11–8, 5–11, 6–11	Runner-up

International Challenge/Series

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2008	White Nights	Juliane Schenk	21–15, 15–21, 21–19	Winner
2005	Belgian International	Juliane Schenk	11–4, 11–1	Winner
2004	Bitburger Open	Petra Overzier	11–4, 11–2	Winner
2003	Bitburger Open	Pi Hongyan	11–3, 11–2	Winner
2003	Scottish International	Chie Umezu	11–4, 11–5	Winner
2003	Spanish International	Petra Overzier	11–4, 11–5	Winner
2003	Giraldilla International	Yuki Shimada	11–4, 11–7	Winner
2003	Austrian Open	Petya Nedelcheva	11–7, 11–1	Winner
2003	Finnish Open	Petya Nedelcheva	11–6, 8–11, 11–5	Winner
2003	Polish Open	Kelly Morgan	11–5, 9–11, 11–3	Winner
2002	BMW Open International	Pi Hongyan	9–11, 1–11	Runner-up
2001	BMW Open International	Pi Hongyan	4–7, 7–3, 2–7, 3–7	Runner-up
2000	BMW Open International	Judith Meulendijks	11–4, 11–5	Winner
2000	Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse	Elena Nozdran	11–4, 8–11, 11–4	Winner

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Huang Chia-chi 1 1 0 +1 Petya Nedelcheva 9 9 0 +9 Gong Ruina 2 0 2 –2 Lu Lan 7 2 5 –3 Wang Lin 7 5 2 +3 Wang Yihan 4 1 3 –2 Xie Xingfang 9 0 9 –9 Ye Zhaoying 2 0 2 –2 Zhang Ning 3 0 3 –3 Zhu Lin 7 2 5 –3 Cheng Shao-chieh 4 4 0 +4 Camilla Martin 1 0 1 –1 Tine Baun 11 7 4 +3

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Tracey Hallam 1 1 0 +1 Pi Hongyan 20 8 12 –4 Juliane Schenk 7 6 1 +5 Petra Overzier 4 4 0 +4 / Zhou Mi 7 3 4 –1 / Wang Chen 4 1 3 –2 Yip Pui Yin 2 1 1 0 Saina Nehwal 1 0 1 –1 Maria Kristin Yulianti 3 3 0 +3 Susi Susanti 1 0 1 –1 Wong Mew Choo 3 2 1 +1 / Mia Audina 8 3 5 –2 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 1 1 0 +1

References

1. Said by David Mercer/Gillian Clark on August 13, 2008 in match against Xie Xingfang in the quarterfinals of the women's singles shown on the BBC.
2. "2006 European Championships winners". tournamentsoftware.com.
3. "2008 European Championships winners". tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 2008-04-21.

External links

• BWF player profile