Chen Long clinched the gold medal with the Chinese team on three occasions in the years 2010, 2012 and 2018.
Chinese badminton great Chen Long has announced his retirement at the age of 34. He ended a decorated career that included Olympic gold and two world titles. A farewell match was organised in Suzhou alongside the ongoing Sudirman Cup. Chen wrote on his Weibo handle “This is a difficult moment for me. It’s so hard to say goodbye.” He added, “Badminton is the love of my life. I was lucky enough to wear the national shirt and play for my country because not all dreams come true in life.” Chen was the former world no. 1 and has brought laurels consistently for his country by winning bronze in London 2012 Olympics, Gold in Rio, Silver in Tokyo and two world championships and the Thomas Cup and Sudirman Cup.
Chen Long started his career on high. He won against Lee Chong Wei, the reigning world champion in the World Championships held in Copenhagen. The final scoreline of the match was 21–19, 21–19. He defended his World Championship title at the 2015 BWF World Championships held in Jakarta. Chen reached the final of the championships like a cakewalk. He won in 2 sets over each of the opponents that he played in the tournament. This included Japanese rising star and then-World No.4 Kento Momota. The finals of the world championship was a rematch of the 2014 final. Here also, Chen was again victorious over his rival Lee Chong Wei thereby successfully defending his World Champion title with an easier scoreline of 21–14, 21–17.
China has been one of the dominant forces in the Thomas Cup, winning the title a record number of times. A part of this success has also been enjoyed by Chen. Chen Long clinched the gold medal with the Chinese team on three occasions in the years 2010, 2012 and 2018. Although the first time that he was featured, he only played only at the opening game before being replaced by Bao Chunlai in the later games. He went on to add a second gold medal with the team in May of 2012 thus helping his country to win 9th title.
Chen Long represented the national team in the 2018 Thomas Cup. In the group stage, he defeated HS Prannoy from India and Brice Leverdez from France. In the quarter-finals, he defeated Chou Tien-Chen from Chinese Taipei. China beat Chinese Taipei 3–0. In the match against Indonesia in the semi-finals, he defeated Anthony Ginting in two sets. During the final match, China faced Japan. He lost his match against the 2018 World Champion and then World number 1 Kento Momota in two sets, but although he lost his match, China beat Japan 3–1 and won the Thomas Cup.
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Chen Long first represented China in the Olympics in London in 2012. Chen was defeated in the semi-final of the men’s singles competition by Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia with a score line of 21–13, 21–14. But, he went on to win bronze after defeating Lee Hyun-il in the bronze medal match.
Chen took both games 21-18 to consign Lee to a third consecutive defeat but this time, in an Olympic Games final. It was the first gold medal for the former world number two Chen. He previously won bronze at London 2012 which was the best performance of the Chinese. Chen took an early 11-8 lead in that match. It turned out to be the deciding game before stretching his hold over Lee to 20-15.
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