University of Toronto Varsity Blues badminton alumnae Michelle Li and Rachel Honderich were named among the eight Canadians that will hit the court at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo this August.
 
Li is Canada's top-ranked player, cracking the top 10 in the BWF Olympic qualification rankings in the women's singles event as she heads towards her third consecutive Olympic appearance.
 
Since the beginning of her career, Li has been a trailblazer for Canadian women in the sport and has become the country's most successful female badminton player ever.
 
After being a double gold medalist at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Li made her Olympic debut at London 2012 where she was part of Canada's best-ever Olympic result with partner Alex Bruce as they finished fourth in the women's doubles.
 
Since then, Li has continued to reach podiums across the globe. In 2014, she became the first Canadian woman to ever win badminton singles gold at the Commonwealth Games and defended her singles title at the Pan Am Games in 2015. Li claimed her third straight Pan Am Games singles gold at Lima 2019, while reaching a new career-high on the world-ranking list at number eight.
 
Li played for the Varsity Blues in 2009-10 and 2012-13, earning rookie and player of the year in those seasons, respectively.
 
Honderich, along with partner Kristen Tsai, will team up in the women's doubles in Tokyo. Honderich and Tsai have a proven track record for success, winning the 2018, 2019 and 2021 Pan American championships together and a doubles gold at the 2019 Pan Am Games.
 
This is Honderich's first Olympic berth. She played for the Blues for one season in 2015-16, earning both OUA rookie and player of the year honours, and was named U of T's Frank Pindar female athlete of the year.
 
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