New Delhi: Speed, agility and endurance. These are the catchphrases for every badminton player. They are often associated with players in their 20s.
Yet, a select few are defying the odds.
Michelle Li (34) and Chou Tien Chen (36) are in a league of their own, being the oldest women’s and men’s singles players remaining in the BWF World Championships in New Delhi, still pushing themselves and dreaming as they did when they were young. They are trailblazers for badminton in Canada and Chinese Taipei, setting an unprecedented example for their compatriots.
The odds are stacked against them. No singles player has won a World Championships medal at their age since Zhang Ning claimed women’s singles bronze in 2007 at 32, followed by Lin Dan, who won men’s singles silver at the 2017 Worlds at 33.
Overall, Hendra Setiawan, the Indonesian stalwart, remains the oldest shuttler to win a BWF World Championships medal – claiming his fourth gold in 2019 at the age of 35.
But stats and records are made to be broken.
Michelle, representing Canada, and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei are very much up for the challenge at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi. Both have cruised into the quarterfinals with straight-game wins over Tomoka Miyazaki and Yushi Tanaka – players a generation younger than them.
The irony is that Miyazaki was still in her cradle when Michelle made her senior debut in 2008. Yushi Tanaka was still taking wobbly steps into a badminton academy when Chou made his BWF Super Series debut. Yet, many years later, Michelle and Chou continue to chase the most difficult prize at the Championships – winning medals for their countries.
While Chou, the sixth seed, has his eyes on a medal of a better colour after winning bronze in 2022, Michelle is chasing her maiden Worlds medal.
Getting physically better at 34
At the Delhi Worlds, Michelle, a Pan American star, showed why she remains capable of breaking into the world’s top 10. Now ranked 13th, she has been beating players almost half her age. After getting off to a straight-game win over Chiu Pin-Chian in the first round, she overcame a spirited challenge from 18-year-old Unnati Hooda in a 58-minute three-game battle. In the pre-quarterfinals, she endured another 62-minute battle, producing a courageous display of fitness to knock out eighth-seeded Miyazaki in a tightly fought contest.
She might not be getting any younger, but she is an ageless star. She was 23 when she won her first Pan American Games gold in 2015 and 31 when she clinched her third in 2023 – a testament to her longevity. She is now the most successful women’s singles player in the Games’ history. Despite being on the wrong side of her 30s, Michelle says she feels better than she did a decade ago.
“I think it is God’s plan. I think right now my body feels better than it did 10 years ago, which is very surprising and shocking,” Michelle told the media after sailing into the quarterfinals.
Behind her longevity is a strong support team that continues to keep her fire alive.
“I feel I have the right team and support right now that I never had before the Paris Olympics. I’m very grateful to my club, to my team, to my therapist, for even my boyfriend, like everybody that’s supporting me right now. They have uplifted me and there’s still that fire inside me to compete with even people that are half my age. So I’m trying not to think too much about that and just kind of enjoy the game and just do my best,” Michelle told Sports Now while responding to a question in the mixed zone.
Michelle loves the challenge. So, when she trailed Miyazaki after losing the opening game, she did not lose her composure. Instead, the challenge seemed to charge her up, as she won the next two games to cruise into the quarterfinals.
“I like matches where it’s always back and forth, where the intensity is high ’cause I get to learn a lot, so I don’t really mind it,” she added.
She ruled out retirement anytime soon.
“There are still so many tournaments left that I’m not really thinking about that (retirement) right now. I think if you’re talking about the number of World Championships left in my career, obviously it’s going to be less and less,” she added.
Michelle, along with Victor Lai, is on the brink of history in New Delhi, taking Canadian badminton deep into the sport’s biggest event since both have reached the last eight in their respective fields.
Cancer couldn’t tame Chou’s spirit
In July this year, Chou etched his name into badminton history, becoming the oldest player to win a Super 1000 title at the prestigious China Open. He defeated Toma Junior Popov in the final to claim the second Super 1000 title of his career – and his first since the 2019 Indonesia Open. On his way to the title, he swept aside top seed and defending champion Shi Yu Qi and All England Open winner Lin Chun-Yi.
Chou, an Asian Games silver medallist, is one of the trailblazers of Chinese Taipei badminton, alongside Tai Tzu Ying, inspiring a generation of players to take up the sport and helping establish it as one of the country’s most popular sports alongside baseball. Even Lin Chun-Yi hailed Chou as his idol after winning the India Open in January.
Asked how he keeps himself going, Chou said, “I have a fire and a dream, so you need to wake up. When you wake up, every moment, you think about how you can improve, so you can do that. If you don’t have a dream, every time you wake up, you say, ‘What do I need to do? What can I do?’ So if you have a goal, you can do that. I really appreciate I can stand here. So yeah, thanks God.”
He is a player of patience and composure, always capable of finding solutions under pressure. In the China Open final, he trailed 6-11 but dug deep to steal the opening game.
Chou’s battle stands out. Diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023 and needing life-saving surgery to remove cancerous cells and part of his large intestine, Chou’s very life was uncertain, let alone his badminton career. Yet three years later, he remains on badminton’s biggest stage – still a formidable contender at the Worlds.
Chou has no plans for retirement anytime soon. “I can move, I can play,” he said with a straight face when asked about retirement.
On Friday, when Michelle takes on second seed Akane Yamaguchi and Chou faces upstart 21-year-old Alwi Farhan in the quarterfinals, they will look to carry that same fire onto the court as they chase history – and keep alive the dream that still makes them love playing badminton.