Topic: Yu Yang

Yu Yang (simplified Chinese: 于洋; pinyin: Yu Yang, born April 7, 1986 in Haicheng, Liaoning) is a female badminton player from the People's Republic of China.

A doubles specialist, Yu and her regular partner Du Jing have steadily emerged as one of the world's elite women's doubles teams since 2004. They confirmed this status by winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing over Korea's Lee Kyung-won and Lee Hyo-jung. Their other titles have included the Polish Open (2004): the China Masters (2005); the Asian Championships and Swiss Open in 2006; the Russian, Hong Kong, and Indonesia Opens in 2007; and the French, Korea, and Singapore Opens in 2008. Yu and Du were bronze medalists at the World Championships in 2006, but were unable to play in the tourney's 2007 edition. They were runners-up at the prestigious All-England Championships in 2008, but avenged that loss by beating their All-England conquerors in the Olympic final.

Yu has also enjoyed recent success in mixed doubles with He Hanbin. They captured titles at the Badminton Asia Championships and the Thailand and Denmark Opens in 2007; and the India, Swiss, Malaysia, and French Opens in 2008. They finished in third place at the Beijing Olympics, making Yu one of only two players to win two medals at the competition.