The Coolest And Promising Badminton Player From Taiwan - Part 1 (Men's Team)

Hi, everyone! I came back with my favorite badminton players. It has been a long time since I did not post about it. I bring you some names of the coolest badminton players of the Chinese Taipei Badminton Team. Some of them also can be mentioned as The Promising Players of Chinese Taipei. 

Early this year, many new players from Taiwan appeared in the BWF World Tour. There is Lin Chun-Yi who became a winner of Thailand Master Super 300. Previously, Lu Chen had stolen our sight when he partnered with Lee Yang when Wang Chi-Lin was recovering from his injury. Unfortunately, Lee Yang/Lu Chen did not win any trophies. Lu Chen looked like he would be a promising player in the future, as well. I am not overproud of him. Let him approach it first.

I chose these nominees based on their latest performance (I updated the newest BWF World Ranking (last updated on June 27, 2023, and sorry for the very late posting). I also considered their physical appearance. I have four men who are The Coolest Chinese Taipei Men Singles. They are: 

Su Li Yang (image by FB Taipei Yuqiu )

Chou Tien Chen (image by Chou Tien Chen)

Lin Chun Yi and Lee Chia Hao (image by: IG Lin Chun-Yi)

 

In the Men Doubles disciple, I skipped the players who are still active playing in two disciples (Men Double and Mixed Double). So, there are about four players I skipped to put in the MD category. Therefore, I only have two players here: 

Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po-Han at TotalEnergy BWF Thomas&Uber Cup 2022

The last category is the male player of Mixed Double Disciple.

Many double players in Taiwan play in two disciples. Also, the badminton federation has many ways to mix the players into men, women, and mixed doubles. I already chose four male players in Mixed Double Disciple. All of them also have partners in Men’s Double Disciple. So, these men are the best ones since they succeed in playing in two numbers. They are: 

Ye Hong Wei (source: his Instagram)

[One Photo Image will be updated very soon]

Finally, I present them to you…

First of all, I would like to introduce you to Ye Hong Wei.

Recently, he has played in two disciples: Men Doubles (MD) with his Senior, Su Ching Heng; and in the Mixed Double (XD) with Lee Chia-Hsin. I have scrolled down to Ye Hong Wei’s first appearance in an international badminton match. Ye Hong Wei’s first match in badminton sport as a man single in the Korea Junior Open Badminton Championship 2015. It was held in Gwangju, South Korea. At that time, Ye Hong Wei was 16 years old. He also played in the MD section with Su Li Wei. They played since the qualification round and ended up in the top 16 round. In the MS disciple, Ye Hong Wei was defeated by the host country representative, Kim Moon Jun, who beat him in the MD section, too. The next year, Su Li Wei/Ye Hong Wei was a champion in the Korea Junior Open Badminton Championship 2016 after defeating Kang Min-Hyuk/Kim Won Ho in four games: 3-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

In 2017, Ye Hong Wei also played in two disciples: Men Doubles (MD) still with Su Li Wei; and in the Mixed Double (XD) with Teng Chun-Hsun. In the junior-era tournaments, Hong Wei showed very pleasant results. Here are some results with Su Li Wei: Champion Dutch Junior 2017; They reached the semifinal round of the German Open 2017; Champion TUI Medical Waikato International 2017 after defeating Chen Tang Jie/Soh Wooi Yik. He also got a silver bronze with Teng Chun Hsun after defeating Riky Widianto/Richi Puspita Dili in a similar event. Ye Hong Wei also got two gold medals in Australian Junior. 

In 2018, Hong Wei started to play with Lu Chen in Austria Open 2018. Lu Chen/Ye Hog Wei won the games after defeating Oliver Leydon-Davis/Lasse Molhede (AUS/DEN). Ye Hong Wei also got two titles, Men Double Disciple with Lu Chen and Mixed Double Disciple with Teng Chun Hsun in the Slovak Open 2018. Lu Chen/Ye Hong Wei won the 53 Portuguese International Championship 2018. In the same tournament, with Teng Chun Hsun, he reached the semifinal round. 

In 2019, Hong Wei partnered with Chiang Chien-Wei. Their first match was Taipei Open 2019 in September 2019. Chiang Chien Wei/Ye Hong Wei entered the semifinal round Scottish Open 2019. They lost to the host country representative, Alexander Dunn/Adam Hall in a straight set. Ye Hong Wei/Chiang Chien-Wei won the next tournament in Victor Welsh International 2019. 

In 2020, before the pandemic covid-19, Chiang Chien Wei/Ye Hong Wei won two titles in two tournaments. In a straight game, they won the All-Chinese Taipei-Final against Wei Chun Wei/Wu Guan Xun. Chiang Chien Wei/Ye Hong Wei defeated Daniel Lundgaard/Mathias Thrry from Denmark in the final round and became a champion. Ye Hong Wei does not play in XD Disciple this year. 

The BWF Sudirman Cup 2023 is not the first event team for Ye Hong Wei. In 2016, he joined the team for the BWF Junior Mixed Team Championship 2016 in Bilbao, Spain. Also, he joined the team for the SCG Badminton Asia Junior Championship 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand. Ye Hong Wei played back with his former partner Su Li Wei in Spain and Bangkok for some matches. Also, he played with Lin Hsiang-Ti in the XD Disciple. 

In 2017, Ye Hong Wei was sent to Yogyakarta, Indonesia to join the Chinese Taipei Team in the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championship 2017. Ye Hong Wei also played in Pembangunan Jaya Raya Badminton Asia Junior Championship 2017 (Team Event). The Chinese Taipei Badminton Association has put his name and Su Ching Heng on the name list squad for the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2022. 

The domino effect of Liao Min Chun’s retirement in early 2021 is the coaching team tried to find a new partner for his partner, Su Ching Heng. Ye Hong Wei is the new partner for Su Ching Heng. 

Also, read: My Favorite Badminton Team - Chinese Taipei [Part 2]

The next is...

 Currently, this pair is at the top of the men's Doubles section in Chinese Taipei National Badminton. Yet, their highest achievement is being Runner-up in their home country's tournament Super 300, Taipei Open 2023. In some tournaments, I see Lu Ching Yao have a very good play attitude on the court rather than his partner. So, I made him follow Ye Hong Wei on this list. 

Lu Ching Yao also played in two sections in 2021. In the Men Doubles section with Yang Po-Han, and the Mixed Doubles disciple with Lee Chia-Hsin. It seems he and Lee Chia Hsin cannot work together as a partner on the court. Finally, they are separated. Lu Ching Yao keeps playing in the MD section with Yang Po-Han. Meanwhile, Lee Chia-Hsin plays in the Women's Doubles section with her junior. 
I will let you know and remind you that last year Lu Ching Yao proposed to his girlfriend. After that, they are getting married. Lu Ching Yao is a husband and a daddy now. So, I see that thing makes him calmer on the court than before, yet, he still has a strong motive to win.  

Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po-Han (image: Facebook)

The next badminton player who I call the promising player of Chinese Taipei is...

The future badminton era in Taiwan will have Su Li Yang, the boy who was born on December 27, 2001. When I collected his data, Su Li Yang was now on the 35th BWF World Ranking (date updated June 27, 2023) after the Taipei Open Super 300. At his home-country tournament, Su Li Yang got a silver medal after Indonesian Representative, Chico Dwi Aura Wardoyo, beat him in the final round in a straight game: 21-23, 15-21.

I guess the previous tournaments that made him being promoted to the World Tour Series are Nothern Marianas Open (International Challenge) where Su Li Yang finished the tournament as the Semifinalist after he lost to his compatriot, Liao Jhuo-Fu, in a straight game: 20-22, 21-23; also, he reached the semifinal round in Saipan International Challenge after losing his game to the host country representative, Takuma Obayashi, in three games: 10-21, 21-16, 17-21. This year, Su Li Yang entered the final round of the Slovenia Open. Unlucky, Sameer Verma from India defeated him in the final round in a straight game: 21-18, 21-14. 

Su Li Yang’s first final round in the junior era matches was in Australian Junior 2017. At that time, he only lost to another Taiwanese young boy, Lee Chiao Hao in two games: 16-21. 21-13. Su Li Yang got his first win after he defeated Yu Sheng Po, another Chinese Taipei young badminton Men Single, in Italian Junior 2018. 

Su Li Yang (image: Facebook)

The Young man from the Chinese Taipei badminton team who I placed in number four was born 21 years ago. He was born on November 11, 2002. His name is Chiu Hsiang Chieh. Currently, Chiu Hsiang Chieh plays in two disciples. In the Men Doubles section, Hsiang Chieh is partnered up with Yang Ming Tze who is five older than him. This year, Chiu/Yang entered more than once into the quarterfinal rounds. They made it in the Thailand Open Super 300 after the host representative, Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren defeated them in a straight game. The Malaysian pair, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin defeated Hsiang Chieh/Ming Tze in a straight game in the quarterfinal round of the US Open Super 300. A week before, in the Canada Super 500, Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Yang Ming Tze lost in the quarterfinal, too. They lost to the Danish pair, Rasmus Kjaer/Frederik Sogaard in two games. 

Meanwhile, in the Mixed Doubles section, Chiu Hsiang Chieh is playing with Lin Xiao Min. Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Lin Xiao Min’s highest achievement this year is being Runner-up in their home country tournament, the Taipei Open Super 300. After they defeated their compatriot, Tseng Min Hao/Hsieh Pei Shan in the semifinal round. But, Hsiang Chieh/Xiao Min lost to Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei from Malaysia in the final round within two games. 

We go back to the previous year first….

Chiu Hsiang Chieh/Yang Ming Tze was a champion in the Dutch Open International Challenge, Polish International Series, Bonn International, and Croatia International Future Series. They also became runner-up in the tournaments: Bulgaria International Future Series, Czech Open International Series, and Denmark Master International Challenge. 

When Chiu Hsiang Chieh played in the Polish International Series, he also became a winner in the Mixed Doubles section with Lin Xiao Min. Still, with Lin Xiao Min, Hsiang Chieh also won the Croatia International Future Series and Bulgaria International Future Series. Those good results in 2022 might be a consideration for the federation to play in the World Tour Series. 

[Chiu Hsiang Chieh's image will be updated soon]

The next player on the list of The Coolest Male Badminton Players from The Chinese Taipei National team is… 

He is Su Li Yang’s senior. I already wrote about him in many blog posts here, you can scroll down the link below later. 

Read: My Favorite Chinese Taipei Player 2022

  

Yeah, he is Chou Tien Chen, a senior player from Taiwan who is already 33 years old. I think I should be writing his name on this list even though you have read some posts I have written here. It is because Chou Tien Chen still becomes the main bullet for the team. As we see in the BWF Sudirman Cup 2023, Chou Tien Chen played four times in the group stage, and once in the quarterfinal round against Korea. 
Chou Tien Chen also joined the squad team in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship 2023 where held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He played twice in the group stage against Ng Ka Long Angus from Hongkong, and Kodai Naraoka from Japan. Unfortunately, The Chinese Taipei Team failed to enter the knock-out stage since The Hong Kong China Team won the game difference to the Chinese Taipei.

This year, Chou Tien Chen got a silver medal in the Swiss Open Super 500 after defeating The World Ranking Number I, Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal round. But he has to lose to Koki Watanabe in the final round. Chou Tien Chen entered the Top 8 stage in the India Open Super 500 and Indonesia Open Super 1000 after Jonatan Christie and Viktor Axelsen defeated him. Chou Tien Chen failed to defend his title in his home country's tournament, the Taipei Open  Super 300 after he lost to his junior, Lin Chun-Yi in three games. 

Worth to read: Ways to improve your job-switching era (Indonesian written)

Finally, that is all I can write about The Coolest Taiwanese Badminton Players in the last first semester of 2023. Some of the players also could be promising successful players from Taiwan in the future. I hope I can update you about The Coolest Taiwanese Badminton Players in the second semester of 2023 or we could say let's observe them again for the ranking at the end of the year. 

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