Liem Swie King (; born 28 February 1956) is an Indonesian 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 who excelled from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. He won the All England in 1978, 1979 and 1981. He was one of the world's leading singles players of his era. A world level player in men's doubles as well as men's singles, he was known for the ferocity of his jumping smash.

Early life

Liem was born on 28 February 1956 in

Kudus Regency :''This article refers to the regency in Indonesia; see also Al-Quds (Jerusalem)'' Kudus ( jv, ꦏꦸꦢꦸꦱ꧀) is a regency ( id, kabupaten) in Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is Kudus. It covers 425.16 km2 and is thus t ...

, Central Java. His parents were Ng Thian Poo and Oei See Moi from Putian,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

. He was the only son of eight children. During elementary school, he studied at Sekolah Tionghoa, and later moved to SD Negeri Dema'an II in 1965. In 1974, he chose a name suggested by his older sister, ''Guntur'' (meaning: ''thunder''), in order to comply with government direction for any Indonesian with Chinese name to adopt what is considered as an "Indonesian name", however it did not affect how people addressed him in public or in competition. His physical trainer, Tahir Djide, said, "It is easier to pronounce ''King'', rather than ''Guntur''".

Career

While watching a local badminton competition, Budi Hartono, the owner of a prestigious badminton club, Djarum Badminton Club, recognized Liem's talent at the age of 14. Despite the loss he took in the final match, Liem was invited to join the club. With proper coaching, it did not take long for the teenage Liem to start overwhelming opponents with his fast-paced style in various local youth badminton tournaments. In 1972 at the age of 15, Liem became the junior single champion of Central Java. In November 1972, he tasted his first international tournament, the First Djakarta Badminton Open Tournament, defeating Singapore's Ng Choi Yu in the first stage, before succumbing to Thailand's Sangob Ratananusorn. Later, he won Moenadi Cup, in men's singles and men's doubles categories, pairing with his childhood friend,

Hariamanto Kartono Hariamanto Kartono (; born 1954) is a retired male Chinese Indonesian badminton player. Career Partnered first with Rudy Heryanto and later with singles star Liem Swie King, Kartono was one of the world's leading doubles players in the early ...

. In 1973, Liem was called to join the provincial badminton squad for National Sports Competition (Pekan Olahraga Nasional) VIII. He reached the men's singles final by defeating senior players, before finally losing to a veteran national squad member, Iie Sumirat. In the same year, he won a local tournament, Kejuaraan Dunia Bulu Tangkis Piala Garuda (Garuda Cup Badminton World Championship) in

Tegal Tegal is a city in the northwest part of Central Java of Indonesia. It is situated on the north coast (or ''pesisir'') of Central Java, about from Semarang, the capital of the province. It had a population of 239,599 at the 2010 Census and 276 ...

. While still in high school, in 1974, Liem won the national championship. In the same year he participated in the All England for the first time. Later on, Liem won the

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

Men's Singles Championships in 1978,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

during a six-consecutive-year run to the finals (1976–1981) of what was then perhaps the world's most prestigious badminton tournament. He was the runner-up at the then triennial

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in both 1980 and

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

to, consecutively, fellow Indonesians

Rudy Hartono Rudy Hartono Kurniawan (born Nio Hap Liang (); 18 August 1949) is an Indonesian former badminton player holding the record of winning the men's singles title at the All-England Championship eight times, seven times consecutively from 1968 to 1974 ...

and

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, ...

. He was a member of 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 ...

winning Indonesian teams of

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, playing both singles and doubles on the latter two occasions. He also played in the

in the years 1982 and

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 enter ...

. He was a bronze medalist in the men's doubles together with Kartono at the

1985 IBF World Championships The 1985 IBF World Championships (World Badminton Championships) were held in Calgary, Canada, from June 10 to June 16, 1985. Host city selection Canada was selected over India and Netherlands by IBF during a meeting in May 1983. Venue *Pengr ...

in Calgary. He retired from badminton in 1988, and now owns a health spa in Jakarta.

"King Smash"

Liem's is well known for his iconic jumping smash, which has been recognized as the most aggressive type of offensive strokes in badminton. Although some players were claimed to originate the move, Liem was widely accepted as the man who popularized the jumping smash. Unlike most pro players before him, who used hopping leg action to compensate the lateral gap to reach the shuttlecock, Liem effectively used a higher vertical leap in executing his smash. As his popularity increased, badminton enthusiasts around the world began to associate that kind of hard-hitting, leaping smash with Liem, earning it the nickname ''King Smash''. Liem's move was considered revolutionary during his era, but now it has become a standard attacking skill for badminton pros. Liem's vertical leap explosiveness came from his low crouching stance before launching his jump, he then intercepted the shuttlecock at high altitude with a ferocious whipping strike, or sometimes a deceptive drop shot which immobilized his opponent who was expecting a slamming hit from him. By intercepting the shuttlecock at higher altitude, Liem was able to deliver a shot with steeper angle. Given his average stature, his jump-smash made a quite dramatic visual for the spectators, due to the perceived height of his leap. In an interview, Liem explained that he began to do jump-smash around 1977. He liked fast-paced style and simply wanted to hit the shuttlecock quicker. No coaches complained about it since they saw it improved Liem's game. Racket known to have been used by Liem is Carbonex 1

Personal life

King met his wife Lucia Alamsah in 1976 and they have three children, Alexander, Stephanie and Michelle. King's life and achievements were the inspiration for the 2009 Indonesian movie " :id:King_(film), King" (2009) in which he made a cameo appearance. That same year, Robert Adhi Kusumaputra published a biography on the Indonesian legend, titled "Call Me, King" (Panggil Aku, King).

Awards and nominations

Achievements

IBF World Championships

''Men's Singles'' ''Men's Doubles''

World Cup

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

World Games

''Men's singles''

Asian Games

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

Asian Championships

''Men's singles''

Southeast Asian Games

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

International Open Tournaments (14 titles, 8 runners-up)

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' : IBF Grand Prix tournament : IBF Grand Prix Finals tournament

Award

Liem was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame in 2002.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liem, Swie King 1956 births Living people Indonesian male badminton players Indonesian Christians Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian Hokkien people World Games medalists in badminton World Games bronze medalists Competitors at the 1981 World Games Asian Games medalists in badminton Asian Games gold medalists for Indonesia Asian Games silver medalists for Indonesia Asian Games bronze medalists for Indonesia Badminton players at the 1974 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1978 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1982 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for Indonesia Southeast Asian Games silver medalists for Indonesia Southeast Asian Games medalists in badminton Competitors at the 1977 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 1979 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 1981 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 1983 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 1985 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games People from Kudus Regency 20th-century Indonesian people