Howard Bach (born February 22, 1979) is a

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

male

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 the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He was the 2005 world champion in the men's doubles with

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 ...

Early life

He was born in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, Howard Bach came to the U.S. at the age of two, when his father, Cam Sen Bach, emigrated to San Francisco with his family in 1982. From 1991–1993, he attended Marina Middle School in San Francisco. When he was five years old, Howard Bach was brought by his father to the Golden Gate

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

's Tenderloin District. It was here that over the next 11 years, Howard Bach would be coached by his father in badminton. Bach was a 16-year-old student at

Galileo High School , motto_translation = And yet it moves , type = Public High school , established = , faculty = , district = San Francisco Unified School District , grades ...

when he decided to dedicate himself to the sport of badminton. During his early years, he was also coached and mentored by USA coach of the year, Dick Ng. At age 16, he moved to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

to train at the U.S. Olympic Site.

Career

2004 Olympics

Bach competed in

badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held at the Goudi Olympic Hall at the Goudi Olympic Complex Goudi Olympic Complex is a sports complex in Athens, Greece. It held two of the sports venues used during the 2004 Summer Olympics. Goudi Oly ...

in men's doubles with partner

Kevin Han Kevin Qi Han (born November 25, 1972) is a Chinese American badminton player who won the bronze medal in the inaugural men's singles competition at the 1995 Pan American Games, followed by the gold medal four years later in Winnipeg, Manitoba, ...

. They defeated Dorian James and Stewart Carson of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the first round, then were defeated in the round of 16 by

Jens Eriksen Jens Dyrløv Eriksen (born 30 December 1969) is a badminton player from Denmark. He competed in four consecutive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008, and won a mixed doubles bronze medal in 2004 partnered with Mette Schjoldager. At the World Champio ...

and

Martin Lundgaard Hansen Martin Lundgaard Hansen (born 11 October 1972) is a badminton player from Denmark. He started his career in badminton as a singles player, and competed in the 1993 IBF World Championships. But as the years went by, he made a choice to play doubl ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

2005 World Badminton Championships

From a modest 13th seeded position Howard Bach partnered with

to win the final of the men's doubles 15–11, 10–15, 15–11, against the Indonesian pair,

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 ...

and

Sigit Budiarto Sigit Budiarto (born 24 November 1975) is a male badminton player from Indonesia noted for his reflexes and deft handling of the racket. A men's doubles specialist, he won numerous international titles between 1995 and 2005, most of them in pa ...

. Thus winning the United States's first ever gold at the World Championships. The Championships were held at the

Arrowhead Pond The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, i ...

arena in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

, California.

2008 Olympics

He partnered with

Bob Malaythong Khan "Bob" Malaythong (born 10 April 1981 in Vientiane, Laos) is an Americans, American badminton player. He qualified for the U.S. badminton team as a doubles competitor at the Badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics. Malayt ...

Badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics Badminton competitions at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 9 August to 17 August at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium. Qualification The qualification for 2008 Summer Olympics began from May 2007 until April 2008. ...

in Beijing, advancing to the quarterfinals – the furthest any American has ever reached. They were defeated by the Chinese pair, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.

2012 Olympics

Bach and Tony Gunawan competed in the 2012 London Olympics. They were eliminated during the pool play.

Achievements

World Championships

''Men's doubles''

World Cup

''Men's doubles''

Pan American Games

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

Pan Am Championships

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

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Men's doubles'' :

BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series c ...

tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

tournament

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006. ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF Future Series The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

References

External links

Orange County Badminton Club Team Member's Profile: Howard Bach
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Howard 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Ho Chi Minh City Sportspeople from San Francisco American sportspeople of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese emigrants to the United States American male badminton players Olympic badminton players of the United States Badminton players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1999 Pan American Games Badminton players at the 2003 Pan American Games Badminton players at the 2007 Pan American Games Badminton players at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games