Kim Yun-ja

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Kim Yun-ja (Korean: 김연자, born May 15, 1963) is a retired female badminton player from South Korea. She is the last player to win All England Open titles in both singles and doubles.

Kim Yun-ja
Personal information
Country	South Korea
Born	(1963-05-15) 15 May 1963 (age 62)
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  South Korea World Championships 1985 Calgary Women's doubles 1987 Beijing Women's doubles World Games 1981 Santa Clara Women's doubles World Cup 1985 Kuala Lumpur Women's doubles 1988 Bangkok Women's doubles 1983 Kuala Lumpur Women's doubles Uber Cup 1988 Kuala Lumpur Women's team Asian Games 1982 New Delhi Women's doubles 1986 Seoul Women's doubles 1982 New Delhi Women's singles 1986 Seoul Women's singles 1982 New Delhi Women's team 1986 Seoul Women's team Asian Championships 1985 Kuala Lumpur Women's doubles 1983 Calcutta Mixed doubles 1983 Calcutta Women's singles

Kim Yun-ja
Hangul	김연자
Hanja	金練子
RR	Gim Yeonja
MR	Kim Yŏnja

In 1989, Kim married Sung Han-kook, a fellow world-class player who later went on to become the national team head coach.^[1] Sung and Kim's daughter Sung Ji-hyun is also a badminton player.^[2]

Career

Kim was one of a Korean finest women's badminton player in early 1980's where she won 2 bronzes in women's singles and 2 silvers in women's doubles at 1982 Asian Games and 1986 Asian Games.^[3][4] Kim also snatched two golds and one silver medals in 1983 and 1985 Asian Championships which two of it in women's doubles and another one in mixed doubles.^[5][6] In the World Championships, Kim won two bronze medals in women's doubles, one at the 1985 IBF World Championships with Yoo Sang-hee,^[7] and another at the 1987 IBF World Championships with Chung So-young.^[8]

Post-Retirement

She has long been retired from the sports since 1988 and stay with the sports as a fulltime instructor specifically for badminton in Hansei University.^[9] In 1998, She became a professor and working in several universities such as Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Korea National Sports University^[9][10]

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1988 (Exhibition)	Seoul National University Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea	Chung So-young	Guan Weizhen   Lin Ying	15–11, 14–17, 15–5	Gold

World Championships

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1985	Olympic Saddledome, Calgary, Canada	Yoo Sang-hee	Han Aiping   Li Lingwei	10–15, 15–9, 17–18	Bronze
1987	Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China	Chung So-young	Guan Weizhen   Lin Ying	15–12, 12–15, 4–15	Bronze

World Games

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1981	San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States	Hwang Sun-ai	Jane Webster   Nora Perry	15–8, 14–17, 10–15	Bronze

World Cup

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yoo Sang-hee	Han Aiping   Li Lingwei	14–17, 3–15	Bronze
1985	Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia	Yoo Sang-hee	Lin Ying   Wu Dixi	4–15, 5–15	Silver
1988	National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Chung So-young	Guan Weizhen   Lin Ying	3–15, 7–15	Silver

Asian Games

Women' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1982	Indraprashtha Stadium, New Delhi, India	Li Lingwei	5–11, 8–11	Bronze
1986	Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Seoul, South Korea	Han Aiping	7–11, 9–12	Bronze

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1982	Indraprashtha Stadium, New Delhi, India	Yoo Sang-hee	Hwang Sun-ai   Kang Haeng-suk	13–18, 15–7, 7–15	Silver
1986	Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Seoul, South Korea	Yoo Sang-hee	Lin Ying   Guan Weizhen	9–15, 15–8, 10–15	Silver

Asian Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Netaji Indoor Stadium, Calcutta, India	Yoo Sang-hee	6–11, 2–11	Silver

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Netaji Indoor Stadium, Calcutta, India	Yoo Sang-hee	Fan Ming   Guan Weizhen	15–10, 6–15, 14–17	Bronze
1985	Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yoo Sang-hee	Hwang Hye-young   Chung So-young	15–5, 15–4	Gold

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Calcutta, India	Park Joo-bong	Hafid Yusuf   Ruth Damayanti	15–3, 15–2	Gold

IBF World Grand Prix (19 titles, 8 runners-up)

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1984	Swedish Open	Fumiko Tookairin	11–6, 5–11, 10–12	Runner-Up
1985	Scandinavian Cup	Kirsten Larsen	11–4, 11–2	Winner
1986	German Open	Helen Troke	11–1, 8–11, 12–10	Winner
1986	All England Open	Qian Ping	11–6, 12–11	Winner
1987	French Open	Lee Young-suk	11–4, 5–11, 11–0	Winner

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1983	Denmark Open	Yoo Sang-hee			Winner
1983	Malaysia Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Jane Webster   Nora Perry	11–15, 15–4, 15–7	Winner
1983	India Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Ruth Damyanti   Maria Francisca	15–7, 15–12	Winner
1984	Denmark Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Atsuko Tokuda   Yoshiko Yonekura	3–15, 15–5, 15–13	Winner
1984	Swedish Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Atsuko Tokuda   Yoshiko Yonekura	15–11, 8–15, 15–9	Winner
1984	All England Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Lin Ying   Wu Dixi	8–15, 15–8, 14–17	Runner-up
1984	Scandinavian Cup	Yoo Sang-hee	Lin Ying   Wu Dixi	1–15, 7–15	Runner-up
1985	Japan Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Guan Weizhen   Wu Jianqiu	15–5, 15–3	Winner
1985	Denmark Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Gillian Gilks   Nora Perry	15–7, 15–7	Winner
1985	Scandinavian Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Maria Bengtsson   Christine Magnusson	8–15, 15–5, 15–1	Winner
1986	German Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Hwang Hye-young   Chung So-young	15–10, 15–5	Winner
1986	Scandinavian Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Chung Myung-hee   Chung So-young	15–7, 17–14	Winner
1986	All England Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Hwang Hye-young   Chung So-young	5–15, 15–6, 8–15	Runner-up
1986	China Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Ivana Lie   Verawaty Fadjrin	8–15, 10–15	Runner-up
1987	Hong Kong Open	Chung So-young	Ivana Lie   Rosiana Tendean	18–14, 11–15, 15–2	Winner
1988	Poona Open	Yoo Sang-hee	Dorte Kjaer   Nettie Nielsen	15–12, 15–2	Winner
1988	All England Open	Chung So-young	Chung Myung-hee   Hwang Hye-young	15–8, 9–15 retired	Winner
1988	French Open	Chung So-young	Chung Myung-hee   Hwang Hye-young	9–15, 13–18	Runner-up
1988	Canadian Open	Chung So-young	Eline Coene   Erica van Dijck	4–15, 3–15	Runner-up
1988	U.S. Open	Chung So-young	Cho Young-suk   Lee Myung-hee	17–14, 15–4	Winner
1988	Malaysia Open	Chung So-young	Guan Weizhen   Lin Ying	6–15, 3–15	Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1987	French Open	Park Joo-bong	Mark Christiansen   Erica Van Den Heuvel	15–10, 15–7	Winner

References

1. "Badminton National Team, rest, Wedding March". Naver News Library. The Dong-A Ilbo. 25 January 1991. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
2. Hearn, Don (7 January 2010). "SUNG JI HYUN – Carrying on a Family Tradition". Badzine.net. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
3. Mohan, Kumud (2 August 2013). "Asian Games: An assessment of favourites in each sport". www.indiatoday.in. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
4. "Badminton - Medallists from previous Asian Games". Doha2006. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
5. "China win men's singles, S Korea get women's title". Singapore Monitor. 9 December 1983. p. 42.
6. "Birthday boy gets his wish; all the Results". The Straits Times. 22 April 1985. p. 25.
7. "Frost and Han Jian to decide the title". The Straits Times. National Library Board. Government of Singapore. 17 June 1985. p. 22. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
8. "Yang Yang Seventh Heaven - Results". The Sunday Times. NewspaperSG. Government of Singapore. 24 May 1987. p. 24. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
9. Jae-Cheon, Ha (17 July 2002). 배드민턴 김연자씨 한체대교수 발탁(Badminton player Kim Yeon-ja selected as professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies). Khan.kr (in Korean). Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
10. "[THANK YOU, MOM ! ]<5·끝>성지현 키운 김연자 교수([THANK YOU, MOM!]: Professor Kim Yeon-ja who raised Seong Ji-hyeon)". The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). 13 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2025.

External links

• All England champions 1899–2007
• Kim Yun Ja at the World Games
• Kim Yeon-Ja at Olympedia