Xiong Guobao (born 1 November 1962) is a former elite level badminton player from China who won numerous international singles titles in the late 1980s.

Career

Noted for his solid, consistent play, Xiong rarely suffered lopsided defeats. His titles included 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 ...

(1984),

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(1987),

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

(1987),

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

(1988, 1989),

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

(1988),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(1989),

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(1988), and

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(1989) Opens. He also won the (now defunct) season ending

World Badminton Grand Prix The World Badminton Grand Prix Finals was an annual badminton tournament organized by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) to crown the best badminton player of the year. The tournament only invited the top eight players in the year-end worl ...

tourney in 1987 and in 1989. Along with fellow singles stars Yang Yang and

Zhao Jianhua Zhao Jianhua () (born 21 April 1965) is a Chinese former badminton player who competed internationally from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. He was admired for his speed and power as well as for his deception and technique. Career Zhao won th ...

, Xiong helped China's

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 h ...

(men's international) teams capture consecutive world titles in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. His results in

IBF 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 ...

were somewhat disappointing, losing quarterfinal matches to

Icuk Sugiarto Icuk Sugiarto (born 4 October 1962) is an Indonesian former badminton player. Career Largely a speed and power player, Sugiarto won the gold medal at the 1983 IBF World Championships, upsetting fellow countryman Liem Swie King in the final, ...

and

Eddy Kurniawan Eddy Kurniawan (; born 2 July 1962 in Semarang, Central Java) is a retired Chinese-Indonesian male badminton player. Career Kurniawan's prime years, the mid to late 1980s, were a period of Chinese domination of international men's singles comp ...

respectively in the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

editions of the tourney.

Personal life

Xiong married to Qian Ping, his teammates from Jiangxi provincial team in Nanchang in 1991. But after eleven years of marriage, they divorced in 2002.

Achievements

World Cup

''Men's singles''

IBF World Grand Prix

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

Invitational tournament

''Men's singles''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiong, Guobao 1962 births Living people Badminton players from Jiangxi Chinese male badminton players Badminton players at the 1986 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games silver medalists for China Asian Games bronze medalists for China Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in badminton World No. 1 badminton players