Career
A doubles specialist, Zhao has often been a "utility player" on China"s national team, winning international tournaments with a variety of compatriots who typically partner someone else. She has also captured mixed doubles titles at the Thailand (2003) and Denmark (2004) Opens with Chen Qiqiu, and at the Hong Kong Open (2006) with Zheng Bo. Zhao was a women"s doubles silver medalist with Wei Yili at the 2003 IBF World Championships in Birmingham, England, dropping the final to compatriots Gao Ling and Huang Sui, and a mixed doubles bronze medalist with Chen Qiqiu at the same tournament.
At the 2004 Olympics in Athens she just missed a medal by finishing fourth in women"s doubles with Wei Yili and losing in the quarterfinals of mixed doubles with Chen Qiqiu.
Zhao was not selected to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a victim of China"s great depth in women"s badminton and rules that limit the number of Olympic entries from any one country.