Source: REUTERS/Arko Datta
[Saba Sports News] On July 10, former Chinese men’s doubles badminton player Zhou Haodong and his fiancée took wedding photos in Ningbo. The photos were posted by a local wedding photographer on their personal account. The bride looks very beautiful, but it is not yet clear whether she is an athlete. Throughout his relationship, Zhou Haodong has been very low-key, possibly because compared to players like Zheng Siwei and Wang Yilu, he hasn’t won an individual world championship, resulting in less media exposure. It is reported that Zhou Haodong started playing badminton in first grade. Due to his outstanding performance in inter-school competitions, he was selected by the Ningbo Sports School coach. In second grade, under the suggestion of Lin Dan’s mentor Chen Weihua, he switched to focus on doubles training. In 2010, Zhou Haodong joined the Zhejiang Provincial Team, and in 2013, he was selected into the Chinese Youth Team. In 2016, he partnered with Han Chengkai to win gold medals at the Asian and World Junior Badminton Championships. That same year, he entered the Chinese National B Team. During their partnership, the pair performed well, reaching the final of the Super 750 French Open, where they defeated the top-ranked Indonesian pair Marcus F. Gideon/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.