A Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) official yesterday confirmed with The Straits Times that the 24-year-old player tendered her resignation from the national team 'late last week'.

Said the official: 'Li Li cited personal reasons. The SBA respected her decision and has accepted her resignation.

'But, if she finds her desire for active competition again, the door is always open.'

Yesterday morning, Li Li returned to her native Wuhan in China's Hubei province to spend Chinese New Year with her parents. She could not be reached for comment.

Zhang Qingwu, who had coached the shuttler to her biggest win - the 2002 Commonwealth Games title - was surprised when told of the news.

He said: 'With the Olympics coming up this year, she had no reason to quit.'

Li Li, the world No 27, was on course to qualify for one of the 38 berths at August's Beijing Games.

She was part of Project 0812, the Singapore National Olympic Council initiative launched last January with the goal of clinching the Republic an Olympic medal at the 2008 or 2012 Games.

The project is armed with a war chest of about $7 million and comprises athletes from sailing, table tennis, shooting and badminton, including Ronald Susilo and Li Yujia.

No doubt, Li Li's resignation is a loss to the SBA.

She was an integral member of the gold medal-winning women's team at the 2003 South-east Asia Games and the 2006 Asian Games runner-up team.

But the SBA official added: 'When the player really feels tired and needs a break, continuing is not something you can force her to do. We wish her good luck and we hope she has a good break.'

Known for possessing the heart of a lion within a pint-sized 1.60 m frame, Li Li came to Singapore in late 1997 and received citizenship in 2002.

She rose to prominence after stunning home favourite Tracey Hallam of England in the 2002 Commonwealth Games final in Manchester. It was the Republic's first Commonwealth Games badminton gold.

But, since then, the Singapore Sports Council Hall of Famer has been plagued with knee injuries and has struggled to find her form.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she made an early exit after falling to India's Aparna Popat in the round of 16.

Her most recent tournament was the Malaysia Open Super Series a fortnight ago, where she crashed out in the opening round.