[2] One of China's most successful women's doubles specialists, Zhang has won some thirty international titles, the vast majority of them in partnership with Yang Wei, during the first decade of the 21st century.

One or the other pair has captured all of the BWF World Championships held since 2000, with Zhang and Yang winning in both 2005 and 2007 by defeating Gao and Huang in the finals.

Zhang and Yang also emerged victorious at the 2004 Olympics in Athens by besting their rivals in a closely contested gold medal match.

This tourney has been something of an anomaly for Zhang as she has reached the women's doubles final there six times (four with Yang and twice, earlier, with Wei Yili) without winning.

At the Beijing Olympics where they were top seeded, however, Zhang and Yang were upset in the quarterfinals by Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna.