Joshua Hurlburt-Yu

Biography

Joshua Hurlburt-Yu began his international career in 2012, highlighted by a mixed doubles silver at the Junior Pan American Championships. He competed in a handful of BWF events through 2014 before temporarily retiring due to back and elbow injuries. After not competing for more than a year, a friend asked him to play at the 2018 Canadian Championships just for fun. Competing and watching the tournament reignited his spark for the game. 

The next year, he fully joined forces with Josephine Wu in mixed doubles. Together, they won the Canadian national title as well as gold medals at the 2019 Pan American Championships and Pan American Games. At his first BWF World Championships in 2019, Hurlburt-Yu and Wu made the Round of 32 in mixed doubles while he also played in the men’s doubles with Duncan Yao. Hurlburt-Yu and Wu successfully defended their Pan Am Championship title in 2021. They competed at their first Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020. 

A Little More About Joshua

Getting into the Sport: Both parents played badminton so he picked up a racket when he was 8… Went through lots of coaches as a young player because he didn’t like listening to instruction… Outside Interests: Enjoys watching basketball and esports during his time off… Would like to pursue a career in physiotherapy… Odds and Ends: Collects currency from countries where he competes… Favourite motto: Work hard, stay humble and always look to improve…