Wong Choong Hann (; born 17 February 1977) is a former

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

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 ...

. He is the first Malaysian to win a medal in the men's singles event at the

BWF World Championships The BWF World Championships, formerly known as IBF World Championships, and also known as the World Badminton Championships, is a badminton tournament sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The tournament is one of the most prestigious i ...

. Currently he is the coaching director for the Malaysia national badminton team.

Career

Wong Choong Hann's career began with the 1996 Malaysia Open. The first tournament he won was the 1997 Dutch Open. He represented Malaysia in 2002, where Malaysia emerged runners-up to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

in the

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships ha ...

championships. In 2003, Wong reached the World Championships finals. In a thrilling three-game match between the veterans (both he and his opponent were above 24 years old then), he eventually lost out to the champion from China,

Xia Xuanze Xia Xuanze (born 5 January 1979) is a former badminton player from China who played singles at the world level from the late 1990s through the first few years of the 21st century. Now he is a singles coach for the national team of China. Career ...

. Wong played

badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held at the Goudi Olympic Hall at the Goudi Olympic Complex from 14 August through 21 August. Both men and women competed in their own singles and doubles events and together they competed in a mixed do ...

in men's singles, defeating

Przemysław Wacha Przemysław Wacha (; born 31 January 1981) is a Polish badminton player. Career Wacha played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's singles, losing in the first round to Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Eur ...

of Poland in the first round. In the round of 16, he was defeated by

Taufik Hidayat Taufik Hidayat (born 10 August 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. He is a former World, Olympic, Asian Games, and Asian champion, and the youngest world number one in the men's singles. Hidayat has won the Indonesia Open six tim ...

of Indonesia. The low point of his career occurred during the

2006 Thomas Cup The 2006 Thomas & Uber Cup was held from 28 April to 7 May in Sendai and Tokyo, Japan. It was the 24th tournament of Thomas Cup and 21st tournament of Uber Cup, men's and women's badminton tournaments. Sendai hosted all of the group stage and pla ...

where he injured himself by snapping an

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

while playing in a quarter final match against South Korea, he was required to rest for almost 6 months. He made a comeback to the sport in the Asian Games later in 2006 but was clearly far from his best form. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he defeated reigning Olympic champion

but once again failed to advance past the round of 16, losing to Hsieh Yu-hsing of Chinese Taipei. He has set up a company "Pioneer Sdn Bhd" with former shuttlers Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming, and Chew Choon Eng to conduct badminton programs and hopefully produce world-class shuttlers for Malaysia. In May 2010, Wong was called back to play for the Malaysian Thomas Cup squad. In 2011 he played his last world championship, where he lost to

Boonsak Ponsana Boonsak Ponsana ( th, บุญศักดิ์ พลสนะ; ; born 22 February 1982) is a Thai badminton player. His younger sister Salakjit Ponsana is also part of the Thailand badminton team. He got a Bachelor of Laws from Sri Patum. ...

in the second round.

Personal life

Wong Choong Hann married Leaw Pik Sim on 11 June 2005. They have a daughter, named Kyra Wong Xinyue, and a son, named Kayden Wong Zixuan. He currently resides in

Sri Petaling Sri Petaling (also known as Bandar Baru Sri Petaling) is a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. The township is located in the south of the city, within the constituency of Seputeh, and is bordered by the towns of Happy Garden, Taman OUG, ...

, Kuala Lumpur. In September 2012, he co-founded LavieFlo International—the first preserved flower retailer in Malaysia.

Achievements

World Championships

''Men's singles''

Commonwealth Games

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

Southeast Asian Games

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

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year. ''Men's singles'' :

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

BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006. ''Men's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF/IBF Grand Prix tournament

Honour

* : ** Member of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace ...

(A.M.N.) (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Choong Hann 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Kuala Lumpur Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent Malaysian male badminton players Badminton players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of Malaysia Badminton players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Malaysia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Malaysia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Malaysia Commonwealth Games medallists in badminton Badminton players at the 1998 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2002 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Malaysia Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Competitors at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2001 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for Malaysia Southeast Asian Games silver medalists for Malaysia Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists for Malaysia Southeast Asian Games medalists in badminton World No. 1 badminton players Badminton coaches Members of the Order of the Defender of the Realm