Brian Yang

Biography

Brian Yang has a history of making history. In 2016, he won the U19 singles national title at age 14, the youngest junior champion ever in Canada. He followed that up in 2017 by becoming the youngest ever U23 national champion, winning that singles title at age 15. In 2019, he became the youngest to ever win the senior national singles title. 

Yang made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 but was unable to advance past the group stage. Two years earlier, he’d won singles silver in his first appearance at the Pan Am Games at Lima 2019. In 2021, he was Team Canada’s co-flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the inaugural Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia. He went on to win gold in singles and mixed doubles with Rachel Chan.  

At the end of the 2021 season, he made his first appearance at the senior BWF World Championships, reaching the round of 16. He’d make the round of 32 in his second go at the tournament in 2023. Yang has enjoyed great success in continental competitions. He won singles gold at the Pan American Championships in 2021 and 2023, sandwiched around a silver medal in 2022.  

Yang had a breakout performance at the 2016 Junior Pan American Championships where he won four gold medals. He has since won five more gold medals at the Junior Pan Am Championships, including two in 2019 in Moncton, when he won the singles and boys’ doubles and added a silver in mixed doubles. 

Yang has competed at four World Junior Championships, advancing to the Round of 32 in singles three times (2017, 2018, 2019) and mixed doubles twice (2016, 2018). Yang represented Canada at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, winning gold as part of Team Alpha in the mixed team relay event. In 2018, he competed in his first major events as a senior, the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and the Pan American Championships. He returned to the Commonwealth Games in 2022. 

Yang won three International Series titles in 2019, defeating Guatemalan Kevin Cordon in the finals of the Peru International, the Santo Domingo Open, and the Suriname International. The Suriname International was the site of a career highlight in 2017, when he fought through the qualification draw and all the way to the final before taking the title in his first senior BWF tournament while still just 15. 

In the shortened 2020 season, Yang earned a career-best finish in a BWF Tour stop, reaching the semifinals of the Saarlorlux Open, a Super 100 event. In 2021, Yang claimed the singles titles at the Denmark Masters and Peru Invitational.     

A Little More About Brian

Getting into the Sport: Started badminton training when he was eight… Played in his first tournament before he started formal badminton training and didn’t really know the rules but managed to win a U10 singles title and the $20 cash prize… Knew he wanted to represent Canada while watching Vancouver 2010… Outside Interests: Enjoys playing video games… Studying kinesiology with the goal of becoming an athletic therapist… Odds and Ends: Favourite quote: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” -Michael Jordan… Inspired by Malaysian legend, Lee Chong Wei, for his work ethic on and off the court as well as his humble attitude…

Olympic Highlights

Games Sport Event Finish
2020 TokyoBadmintonSingles - MenT15

Notable International Results

Olympic Games: 2020 - Group stage (singles)

Pan American Games: 2019 - SILVER (singles)

Commonwealth Games: 2022 - Round of 32 (singles); 2018 - Round of 16 (singles), Round of 16 (doubles), Round of 32 (mixed)

Youth Olympic Games: 2018 - GOLD (mixed team relay), Group Stage (singles)

BWF World Championships: 2023 - Round of 32 (singles); 2021 - Round of 16 (singles)

BWF World Junior Championships: 2019 - Round of 32 (singles); 2018 - Round of 32 (singles), Round of 64 (doubles), Round of 32 (mixed); 2017 - Round of 32 (singles), Round of 64 (doubles); 2016 - Round of 32 (mixed), Round of 64 (doubles), Round of 256 (singles)

BPA Pan American Championships: 2023 – GOLD (singles); 2022 - SILVER (singles); 2021 - GOLD (singles); 2019 - Round of 16 (singles); 2018 - Quarterfinals (singles)

BPA Pan American Championships (U19): 2019 - GOLD (singles), GOLD (doubles), SIVER (mixed); 2018 - Round of 32 (singles), Round of 32 (doubles), Round of 32 (mixed); 2017 - GOLD (singles), GOLD (mixed), Quarterfinals (doubles) 2016 - GOLD (doubles), GOLD (mixed)