Name: Bao Chunlai

Sport: Badminton

Date of Birth: February 17, 1983

Home: Hunan Province

Height: 1.87 meters

Weight: 78 kg

Experience:

2000: Selected for the national second team

2006: Selected for the national first team

Characteristics:

He has long arms and is tall, agile and smart. However, he lacks experience and may not be psychologically mature.

Major achievements:

2001 Denmark Open: Champion, men's singles

2002 UK Open: Third place, men's singles

2003 Japan Open: Quarterfinals

2003 Singapore Open: Quarterfinals

2003 Malaysia Open: Quarterfinals

2003 German Open: Semifinal

2003 Hong Kong Open: Semifinal

2003 China Open: Quarterfinals

2006 Korea Championship: Champion, men's singles

2006 World Championship: Runner-up, men's singles

Bao Chunlai is a mild-tempered and well-mannered man. He is a good friend to the hot-headed Lin Dan, another star on the national team.

For Bao Chunlai, the Thomas & Uber Cup 2002 in Guangzhou Province was his first real challenge. Unfortunately, he lost to Malaysian Hashim Hafiz in the semifinal.

"I felt so bad that I did not sleep well for several days", he said.

In 2004, Bao Chunlai won back the Thomas Cup for China, recovering from his loss two years earlier.

Participating in the Thomas Cup three times in six years gave this child-like man valuable experience that has helped him become a powerful badminton player.

"I should be thankful for my failure in the 2002 Thomas Cup, it taught me how to grow up," he said.

When asked if he was looking for a girlfriend in badminton, he said he does not believe in love at first sight and at this time in his life his main focus is on playing the game.

Although he practices every day, Bao Chunlai has many outside interests. He enjoys listening to music, surfing the internet and singing karaoke. He even has the nickname "the prince of karaoke." His Chinese handwriting by brush is also very good.

(China.org.cn June 16, 2008)