Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune (born 29 March 1993) 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 p ...

player from Mauritius. She began playing badminton in Mauritius at age six. Her first major tournament participation was

2013 BWF World Championships The 2013 BWF World Championships was a badminton tournament which was held from 5 to 11 August 2013 at the Tianhe Sports Center in Guangzhou, China. Host city selection Copenhagen, Guangzhou, and Macau submitted bids for this edition of champions ...

in China, where she lost in the first round of women's singles to Sarah Walker of England. Foo Kune represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil. She was the flag bearer for Mauritius during the

Parade of Nations The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...

. As a junior player, she won the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments. She was awarded the Sportswoman of the year in 2015 in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison, while in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul. Her career-best ranking remains 63 as of 2016 and her best performance remains the gold at

2015 African games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

Personal life

Kate Foo Kune is the second child of Jacques and Cathy Foo Kune (née Ng), both leading mixed doubles badminton players who several championships, such as the 1985 Indian Ocean Games. The pair were married in 1990 and had two children. Her sister, Karen Foo Kune, is also a professional badminton player and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Foo Kune pursued her bachelor's degree in Sports Management while at France. The sisters were paired and played doubles in

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. She is married to Czech badminton player Milan Ludik since August 2020.

Professional life

Foo Kune started playing badminton at the age of six and turned professional by twelve. She first participated in a junior competition at age 12 in 2005. She had her international debut Thomas and Uber Cup Qualification for Africa in 2010 held at Uganda. She was named Sportswoman of the Year in 2015 in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison, while in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul. During the early part of her career, she paired with her sister Karen Foo Kune. During her first outing in the African Badminton Cup of Nations, she finished second, but a few weeks later, she won the Mauritius International Series. She went on to win the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments. In September 2013, it was reported that she was one of the 14 players selected for the Road to Rio Program, a program that aimed to help African badminton players compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics. As of 2016, she lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and joined Issy-Les-Moulineaux Badminton Club. Prior to this, she trained for four months in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, England. Foo Kune was part of the Mauritius badminton squad which won the title at the

2016 Africa Continental Team Badminton Championships The 2016 Africa Continental Team Badminton Championships were held in Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill, Mauritius, between 15–21 February and were organised by Badminton Confederation of Africa. South Africa was the defending champion. This tournament serv ...

in February 2016, which also confirms the participation of Mauritius in 2016 Uber Cup. In June 2016, Foo Kune won the 2016 European Badminton Club Championships with her club despite losing in the final to

Beatriz Corrales Beatriz Corrales Ocaña (; born 3 December 1992) is a Spanish badminton player. She was the women's singles bronze medalist at the 2015 European Games, and the silver medalist at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. Achievements European Games ...

. She was the flagbearer for Mauritius during the

. She won her first match against Wendy Chen Hsuan-Yu of Australia, but was defeated by

Porntip Buranaprasertsuk Porntip Buranaprasertsuk ( th, พรทิพย์ บูรณะประเสริฐสุข; born 24 October 1991) is a Thai badminton player. Buranaprasertsuk won her first Superseries title in 2011 India Open on 1 May 2011, becoming ...

of Thailand and failed to qualify for the next round. In June 2019, Foo Kune was tested positive for doping during the

2019 African Badminton Championships The 2019 African Badminton Championships was the continental badminton championships to crown the best players and teams across Africa. The tournament was held at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Centre in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, from 22–28 April. Meda ...

and in November 2019, she was retrospectively disqualified from the championship, thus becoming the first ever badminton player from Mauritius to be suspended for doping. In December 2020, Foo Kune was banned for two years for the positive test, after a failed appeal to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

. As a result, Foo Kune cannot compete at the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in 2021.

Achievements

All African Games

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles''

African Championships

''Women's singles'' In November 2019, Badminton World Federation released a statement regarding doping test failure of Kate Foo Kune in this championships and decided to disqualify her result. ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (9 titles, 11 runners-up)

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF International Challenge tournament : BWF International Series tournament : BWF Future Series tournament

Career overview

: ''* Statistics were last updated on 18 February 2020.

References

External links

*
Africa Badminton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foo Kune, Kate 1993 births Living people People from Moka District Mauritian people of Chinese descent Mauritian female badminton players Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Olympic badminton players of Mauritius Badminton players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Mauritius Competitors at the 2007 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 2015 African Games African Games gold medalists for Mauritius African Games silver medalists for Mauritius African Games medalists in badminton Mauritian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in badminton