Yu and Du were bronze medalists at the World Championships in 2006, but were unable to play in the tourney's 2007 edition.

They finished in third place at the Beijing Olympics, making Yu one of only two players to win two medals at the competition.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Yu Yang and her partner, Wang Xiaoli, along with Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung of South Korea, and Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia were disqualified from the competition for "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" following matches the previous evening during which they were accused of throwing the match.

[1] Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli played against South Korea's Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and it has been suggested both teams wanted to lose in order to secure an easier draw,[2] although Yu claimed "she and her partner were just trying to conserve their strength for the knockout rounds".

[8] Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.