Ha Tae-kwon (; born 30 April 1975) is a

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Born in

Jeonju Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonju) ...

Jeollabuk-do North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...

, Ha started his career in badminton with the recommendation of

Kim Dong-moon Kim Dong-moon (Hangul: 김동문, Hanja: 金東文; born 22 September 1975) is a retired South Korean badminton player who won major titles between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s (decade), and widely regarded as one of finest men's doubles and m ...

in elementary school. He made his international debut in 1992, and won his first Grand Prix title at the 1995 Canada Open. Ha three times competed in

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in 1996, 2000 and 2004, won a bronze medal in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and a gold medal in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Career

Ha made his first appearance in Olympic Games in 1996 Atlanta, competed in the men's doubles event partnered with

Kang Kyung-jin Kang Kyung-jin (Hangul: 강경진; Hanja: 姜京珍; born 24 March 1973) is a former badminton player and coach from South Korea. He was the men's doubles champion at the 1997 All England Open and 1998 Asian Championships. He competed at the 1 ...

. He and Kang reached the quarterfinals after beat Siripong Siripul/ Khunakorn Sudhisodhi of Thailand and

Jon Holst-Christensen Jon Holst-Christensen (born 16 June 1968) is a retired male badminton player from Denmark. Career Summer Olympics Jon Holst-Christensen competed in badminton at the 1992 Summer Olympics in men's doubles with Thomas Lund. In the first round they ...

Thomas Lund Thomas Haubro Lund (born 2 August 1968) is a retired badminton player from Denmark who affiliate with Kastrup Magleby club. Career Lund was one of the world's leading doubles specialists of the 1990s, particularly in mixed doubles. He was a s ...

of Denmark in the first and second round. In the quarterfinals they defeated by the Malaysian pair Yap Kim Hock/

Cheah Soon Kit Datuk Cheah Soon Kit (Current name: / Birth name: ) (born 9 January 1968) is a former Malaysian badminton player and coach. Career Known for his amazing jumping smash, Soon Kit was one of the top doubles stars in the world in his heyday. ...

in straight games. In 2000 Sydney, Ha qualified to compete in two events. Teamed-up with

Chung Jae-hee Chung Jae-hee (; born 6 April 1978) is a South Korean badminton player who affiliated with the Samsung Electro-Mechanics. She competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. Together with Ra Kyung-min Ra Kyung-min (; born 25 November 1976) i ...

in the mixed doubles, they finished their campaign in the second round, beat the Ukrainian Vladislav Druzchenko/ Viktoriya Evtushenko and lost to eventual silver medalists Trikus Haryanto/

Minarti Timur Minarti Timur (; 24 March 1968) is a former Indonesian badminton player who is affiliated with PB Djarum since 1987. Career Though she won women's singles at the 1990 Dutch Open, Minarti was primarily a doubles player, particularly excelling i ...

of Indonesia. In the men's doubles, he partnered with

. They had bye in the first round, beat Yap Kim Hock/

of Malaysia and

Ricky Subagja Ricky Subagja (born 27 January 1971) is a former Indonesian badminton player. He was rated among the greatest doubles specialists in the sport's history. Career In 1993 the fast moving, faster hitting Subagja won men's doubles at the then bienni ...

Rexy Mainaky Rexy Ronald Mainaky (born 9 March 1968) is a former men's doubles badminton world champion from Indonesia who is often simply known as Rexy. He won the men's doubles Olympic gold medal in 1996 with Ricky Subagja. As of October 2021, he was appoin ...

of Indonesia in the second and quarterfinals, lost to

Tony Gunawan Tony Gunawan (; born 9 April 1975) is an Indonesian-born American former badminton player. He gained several international achievements for Indonesia and later for the United States, including Olympic gold medal and world champion title. Career ...

Candra Wijaya Rafael Candra Wijaya (; born 16 September 1975) is a retired Indonesian badminton player. Career Wijaya started his career in badminton at the age of five, motivated by his brother Indra Wijaya and later joined a club in Cirebon. His father, H ...

of Indonesia in the semifinals, and won a bronze medal match against

Choong Tan Fook Choong Tan Fook (born 6 February 1976) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. Choong is currently coaching the Hong Kong badminton team. Career overview Choong made his debut in Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney. Partnered with Lee Wan W ...

Lee Wan Wah Lee Wan Wah (, born 24 November 1975) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. He is currently the Japan's junior team coach. Career overview Lee made his debut in Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney. Partnered with Choong Tan Fook, they adv ...

of Malaysia. In 2004 Athens, Ha competed in the men's doubles with

as a third seeded. They had a bye in the first round and defeated

Robert Mateusiak Robert Bogumił Mateusiak (born 13 January 1976) is a Polish retired badminton player. Career Łogosz and Mateusiak won bronze medals at the European Championships in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Partnered with Nadieżda Zięba in the mixed ...

Michał Łogosz Michał Andrzej Łogosz (born 23 November 1977) is a Polish badminton player from Litpol-Malow Suwałki club. He was named best sportsman in Płock in 1995. Career Łogosz started playing badminton when he was in primary school, and in 1992, ...

of Poland in the second. In the quarterfinals, Ha and Kim beat

Zheng Bo Zheng Bo (; born 26 November 1983) is a badminton player from Hunan, China. Career A doubles specialist, Zheng won men's doubles at the 2003 Indonesia Open with Sang Yang. Zheng and Sang also secured the winning point against Denmark in the ...

Sang Yang Sang Yang (Chinese: , ''Sāng Yáng''; born: 17 July 1982) is a retired Chinese badminton player and former Olympian from Zhejiang. Career Sang started representing China in the junior tournament, and at the 1998 and 2000 Asian Junior Champio ...

of China 15–7, 15–11. They won the semifinal against

Eng Hian Eng Hian (; born 17 May 1977) is a retired Indonesian badminton player. A men's doubles specialist, he won major international tournaments, most of them in partnership with Flandy Limpele, between 1999 and 2006. They earned a bronze medal in m ...

Flandy Limpele Flandy Limpele (born 9 February 1974) is an Indonesian former badminton player and coach. He competed in four Summer Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008. Career Player A doubles specialist, at various times ...

of Indonesia 15–8, 15–2 and defeated fellow Koreans

Lee Dong-soo Lee Dong-soo ( ; born 7 June 1974) is a former badminton player from South Korea who affiliate with the Samsung Electro-Mechanics. Competition Lee competed for Korea in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's doubles with partner Yoo Yo ...

and

Yoo Yong-sung Yoo Yong-sung (; born 25 October 1974) is a retired badminton player from South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a ...

15–11, 15–4 to win the gold medal. In 2005, he competed at the

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugura ...

, and helped the national team win a bronze medal. Ha graduated from the

Wonkwang University Wonkwang University is a university located in Iksan, South Korea. Founded as Youilhakrim (유일학림) in 1946, it is one of the few academies affiliated with Won Buddhism. Yuilhakrim was succeeded by Wonkwang Junior College (원광초급대학 ...

. In 2008, he was coach of the national team, and in October of the same year he became the coach of Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Men's doubles''

World Championships

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Cup

''Mixed doubles''

IBF World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983. ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

IBF International

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

References

External links

European resultsAll England champions 1899-2007
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ha, Tae-kwon 1975 births Living people People from Jeonju South Korean male badminton players Badminton players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1994 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1998 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Badminton coaches World No. 1 badminton players Sportspeople from North Jeolla Province