Hwang Sun-ai

Hwang Sun-ai (; born 18 April 1962 in Daejeon) is a retired female badminton player from South Korea.

Career Hwang started playing table tennis for a while at a young age until her table tennis team from her school was dissolved and replaced by a badminton team when she was in her last year of elementary school. She switched over and became a badminton player. She continued to play in middle school, in the Daejeon area. There was a women's team at the national tobacco company headquarters, in her neighborhood, and the military team, where some of Korea's eventual top coaches played as young men, also trained in the same location. So she as well as other young players learned a lot from the older badminton specialists training in the same place at that time. When she graduated to high school she left to Masan over 200 km away from home, in South Gyeongsang Province, to play for the Sungji Girls’ High School badminton team there, which was already very famous for its badminton program. From there she was selected by the Korea Badminton Association for the Asian Games in 1978. In January 1981 she won two events, the Chinese Taipei Open in Taiwan and the Japan Open, therefore receiving an invitation for the All England Open that year.

Hwang gained international attention in 1981 when she swept four championships including the All England Open. In the final of the women's singles at the 1981 All England Open Badminton Championships, she defeated two-time All England defending champion Lene Køppen of Denmark, allowing only three points. In June 1981, Hwang was ranked number 1 in the world by the International Badminton Federation. After her All England victory, also a first for South Korea, she was asked to visit the Blue House, the Korean president's residence and was even voted "Athlete of the Year" in Korea.

Hwang began the 1981–1982 season in a slump due to an ankle injury that she suffered at the end of the previous season, and in singles won only a bronze medal at the Japan Open. However, she won her first international doubles gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games, with partner Kang Haeng-suk.

In 1983 Hwang continued to struggle with injury which seriously hampered the pace of her training. She was left off the South Korean national team and only played in South Korea's collegiate competitions.

In March 1985 Hwang was called up to the national team again but mainly as a doubles player. In June 1985 she won a bronze medal at the World Championships in women's doubles with Kang Haeng-suk.

Hwang injured herself at the Scandinavian Open in March 1986 and damaged her ankle and waist again at the Uber Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia in April 1986. No longer selected for the national squad, she retired from badminton in 1987.

Achievements World Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1985 Olympic Saddledome, Calgary, Canada Kang Haeng-suk Lin Ying Wu Dixi 17–16, 9–15, 3–15 Bronze Bronze

World Games Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1981 San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States Zhang Ailing 11–7, 9–11, 9–12 Silver Silver

Women's doubles YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult 1981 San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States Kim Yun-ja Jane Webster Nora Perry 15–8, 14–17, 10–15 Bronze Bronze

Asian Games Women's doubles YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult 1982 Indraprashtha Stadium, New Delhi, India Kang Haeng-suk Kim Yun-ja Yoo Sang-hee 18–13, 7–15, 15–7Gold Gold

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

Women's doubles YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult 1985 India Open Kang Haeng-suk Gillian Clark Gillian Gowers 15–7, 15–12 Winner

International tournaments Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 1981 Chinese Taipei Open Jane Webster Winner 1981 Japan Open Atsuko Tokuda 11–3, 11–5 Winner 1981 Swedish Open Ivana Lie 11–2, 11–8 Winner 1981 All England Open Lene Køppen 11–1, 11–2 Winner

Personal life Hwang Sun-ai has been working as a teacher in her hometown of Daejeon for more than twenty years.