Tang Xianhu

Tang Xianhu (; ; born 13 March 1942) is an Indonesia-born Chinese former badminton player and coach. In the early days of his career, Tang was unable to participate in international competitions due to political factors, but he defeated the world's top players many times during overseas visits and exchanges, and was known as the "Uncrowned King" in badminton. He continued to play badminton and became one of Indonesia's top junior players in the 1950s. He was later recommended to Wang Wenjiao who was recruiting members for the Fujian badminton team in China at the time.

Career As Athlete As the People's Republic of China had not yet joined the United Nations in the 1960s. The International Badminton Federation (IBF) only recognises the membership of the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association, so Tang and others cannot represent China in international competitions.

In 1963, China and Indonesia joined some countries to hold the Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO) in Jakarta and Tang was able to participate in the international competition for the first time and won the men's singles and the men's team gold medals. and the men's doubles and mixed doubles bronze medals in the 7th Asian Games badminton competition held in the same year. In 1978, in addition to winning the men's team and men's doubles silver medals at the 8th Asian Games, Tang also won the mixed doubles gold medal with Zhang Ailing.

In 1979, Tang retired from competitive badminton at the age of 37 because of his old age, lack of physical capacity as well as already had successors in place.

In 1986, Tang went back to Indonesia to take care of his aging parents. He started coaching at Club Pelita Jaya There, he trained many future stars, such as Alan Budikusuma, Hermawan Susanto and Hendrawan. He first returned to Fujian as the head coach of the Fujian Provincial Team. At the end of 1998, the head coach of the Chinese national team, Li Yongbo, called Tang and invited him to return to the national team to coach the men's singles in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. There he trained Dong Jiong, Sun Jun, Ji Xinpeng, Xia Xuanze, Chen Hong and others. In 2000, Ji Xinpeng, not herald before the competition, managed to beat Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat, Denmark's Peter Gade and another Indonesian player Hendrawan to win China's first ever badminton Olympic men's singles gold. China will go on to win all the gold medals on offer by sweeping all five disciplines.

Personal life Tang was born when the Japanese army occupied Indonesia, hence his parents named him "现虎", which means "tiger of today" and placed fearless expectations on him. After he went to China, he changed his name to "仙虎", which means "immortal tiger" and hopes to get some immortal energy from it.

Tang had a marriage before going to Indonesia to coach. His second wife, Lu Qing, was once a trainee of the Chinese national badminton team under Tang, who was still coaching in China at the time. After Tang went to Indonesia, Lu first went to Australia to study before going to Indonesia to marry Tang. They have a son, Songhua, and a daughter, Yunhua.

In 1988, a book authored by Tang, with regards to badminton techniques and training,《羽毛球运动技术图解》, was published by the People's Sports Publishing House of China.

Tang's father died in 1996, and he returned to Fujian, China with his mother, wife and children the following year.

Honours and awards Tang was awarded the IBF Distinguished Service Award in 1986

Achievements Asian Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1974 Amjadieh Sport Complex, Tehran, Iran Chen Tianxiang Shoichi Toganoo Nobutaka Ikeda 15–2, 15–3 Bronze Bronze 1978 Bangkok, Thailand Lin Shiquan Christian Hadinata Ade Chandra 8–15, 10–15 Silver Silver

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 1974 Amjadieh Sport Complex, Tehran, Iran Chen Yuniang Sakuntaniyom Pornchai Kingmanee Thongkam 15–12, 15–9 Bronze Bronze 1978 Bangkok, Thailand Zhang Ailing Hariamanto Kartono Theresia Widiastuti 15–8, 17–16 Gold Gold

Invitational tournament Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 1976 Asian Invitational Championships Luan Jin 15–5, 15–2 Bronze Bronze

Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 1976 Asian Invitational Championships Luan Jin Ade Chandra Christian Hadinata 8–15, 10–15 Silver Silver 1978 World Invitational Championships Lin Shiquan Hou Jiachang Yu Yaodong 15–7, 15–1 Gold Gold 1978 Asian Invitational Championships Lin Shiquan Syed Modi Prakash Padukone 15–3, 15–5 Gold Gold