Beijing: The 2016 Rio Olympic champion Chen Long slipped 20 places to No. 40 in the latest BWF world rankings announced on Tuesday.
Chen has not been competing in a single international tournament since winning a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Rumors surrounding the Chinese badminton star’s future continue as many expected him to retire from international badminton competition any time soon.
Although Chen may decide to retire or come back to compete on the BWF World Tour in his own time, he seemed to enjoy his current status of becoming a badminton ambassador for Li Ning (a badminton equipment manufacturer). On Monday, he posted a few pictures of him interacting with kids at the Li Ning, Chen Long Badminton Singles Open in Xi’An, China.
The event was aiming to expand the badminton youth talent pool in China, and to help the long-term development of Chinese badminton.
Meanwhile, at the BWF rankings, only Zhao Junpeng and Shi Yuqi were ranked in the World’s top 20. Shi Yuqi who only participated in the World Championships and Japan Open this season due to suspension from the Chinese Badminton Association is currently ranked World No. 20 while Zhao Junpeng is at World No. 19.
