Tang Jiuhong

Tang Jiuhong (; born February 14, 1969) is a former Chinese badminton star who was one of the world's leading women's singles players of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Career She won the then biennial 1991 World Championship in 1991 and was a semifinalist in the 1989 World Championships and 1993 World Championships competitions. She was a bronze medalist in women's singles at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Her international singles titles included the prestigious All England Championship in 1992, as well as the Belgian (1988), Thailand (1989), Danish (1989, 1990), Swiss (1989), Singapore (1990), Korean (1992), and Swedish Opens (1992); the World Badminton Grand Prix in 1989, the quadrennial Asian Games in 1990, and the Badminton World Cup in 1992. Tang played on Chinese Uber Cup (women's international) teams that won world team titles in 1990 and 1992. In the late 1980s Tang and her fellow countrywoman Huang Hua were touted by some to be China's next generation of dominant female singles players, taking over from Li Lingwei and Han Aiping. Within a few years, however, they were upstaged by an even younger group of precocious badminton talents that included Indonesia's Susi Susanti, South Korea's Bang Soo-hyun, and China's own Ye Zhaoying.

Tang Jiuhong was brought up in Hunan by her elder brother Hui Tang and in effect his love of badminton introduced her to the sport. The badminton coach of the school where Hui Tang was training was impressed by his little 5-year-old sister Tang Jiuhong. He found that the tall girl's athleticism well suited for badminton. Soon little "Red Nine" as her nickname would become, was part of the County Amateur Sports School team. Four years later she was on the Hunan province badminton team. She won the National Youth Badminton Competition for three consecutive years in the women's singles event. She soon delivered more remarkable achievements winning the 1988 women's singles title at the National Badminton Championships. At the peak of her career she won 14 open events in one year, but her success also came at a price. Maintaining such high strength training for a long time led to severe physical discomfort. In 1992 when she was part of the winning Chinese Uber Cup team (her second Uber Cup title) she also had severe hematuria. To prepare for the Olympic Games, her coach arranged a base in the Beijing Miyun Reservoir where she could be nursed for a month, but the subsequent training still affected her health. The hematuria reappeared and affected her play at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where she managed to reach the semifinals and earn a bronze medal. As pre-event favorite for the gold medal, however, her lopsided loss to Korean player Bang Soo-hyun received such negative criticism in China that she considered immediately retiring. But the Hunan Province Sports Bureau insisted that she persevere and after a period of rest her body eventually recovered. In 1993 she took another bronze medal at the individual world championships, again losing to Bang Soo-hyun but in an extremely close match. After winning women's singles at the Chinese national championships once more in 1993 Tang retired. In 1994 the Hunan Province government awarded her the title of "Most Outstanding Woman".

Achievements Olympic Games Women's singles

World Championships Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1993 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England Bang Soo-hyun 3–11, 12–10, 10–12 Bronze Bronze 1991 Brøndby Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark Sarwendah Kusumawardhani 11–6, 11–1 Gold Gold 1989 Senayan Sports Complex, Jakarta, Indonesia Li Lingwei 11–6, 8–11, 2–11 Bronze Bronze

World Cup Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1989 Guangzhou Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Susi Susanti 4–11, 12–10, 11–12 Bronze Bronze 1990 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Sarwendah Kusumawardhani 10–12, 11–6, 4–11 Bronze Bronze 1992 Guangdong Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Huang Hua 11–8, 11–5 Gold Gold

Asian Games Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1990 Beijing Gymnasium, Beijing, China Lee Young-suk 7–11, 11–7, 11–3 Gold Gold

Asian Cup Women's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1991 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Bang Soo-hyun 11–7, 6–11, 11–4 Gold Gold

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

Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 1989 Poona Open Huang Hua 11–5, 11–8 Winner 1989 Swiss Open Huang Hua 12–9, 11–2 Winner 1989 Thailand Open Luo Yun 0–11, 11–3, 11–6 Winner 1989 China Open Zhou Lei 11–1, 11–7 Winner 1989 Denmark Open Han Aiping 11–0, 11–1 Winner 1989 Grand Prix Finals Han Aiping 12–11, 12–10 Winner 1990 Singapore Open Lee Young-suk 12–9, 11–3 Winner 1990 Denmark Open Zhou Lei 11–3, 11–4 Winner 1990 Grand Prix Finals Susi Susanti 11–8, 5–11, 10–12 Runner-up 1991 Finnish Open Helen Troke 11–7, 11–8 Winner 1991 Malaysian Open Sarwendah Kusumawardhani 11–12, 1–11 Runner-up 1991 Hong Kong Open Huang Hua 10–12, 12–9, 9–12 Runner-up 1992 Korean Open Bang Soo-hyun 11–6, 11–3 Winner 1992 Swedish Open Lim Xiaoqing 11–5, 11–4 Winner 1992 All England Open Bang Soo-hyun 9–12, 12–10, 11–1 Winner

Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 1989 Swiss Open Huang Hua Cheryl Johnson Claire Palmer 15–7, 18–17 Winner

Invitational tournament Women's singles Year Tournament Venue Opponent Score Result 1988 Asian Invitational Championships Bandar Lampung, Indonesia Huang Hua 11–5, 11–6 Gold Gold

Personal life After her retirement Tang Jiuhong opened up a restaurant in her hometown of Hunan, and later also opened some branches in Beijing. In 1996, Tang Jiuhong emigrated to the United States, but soon returned to China, with her husband and child settling in Beijing. Later, because she could not adapt to the weather in Beijing, she returned to Hunan. She was then invited to act as secretary and director of the badminton management center which was established in the Hunan province, and began to engage in her sports management work. At the beginning of 2002, the Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau appointed Tang Jiuhong to the Yiyang City and she became the Chaoyang District deputy mayor, as a grass-roots testing exercise. Later she was promoted to deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Sports Bureau, and she was elected to the National People's congress.