Wong Choong Hann
Wong Choong Hann (simplified Chinese: 黄综翰; traditional Chinese: 黃綜翰; pinyin: Huáng Zònghàn; born 17 February 1977 in Kuala Lumpur) is a male badminton player from Malaysia.
He currently resides in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.
Career
Wong Choong Hann's career began with the 1991 Malaysia Open. The first tournament he won was the 1997 Dutch Open. He represented Malaysia in 2002, where Malaysia emerged runners-up to Indonesia in the Thomas Cup championships.
In 2003, Wong Choong Hann reached the World Championships finals. In a thrilling three-game match between the veterans (both he and his opponent were above 24 years old then), he eventually lost out to the champion from China, Xia Xuanze.
Wong Choong Hann played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's singles, defeating Przemysław Wacha of Poland in the first round. In the round of 16, Choong Hann was defeated by Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.
The lowlight of his career occurred during the 2006 Thomas Cup where he injured himself by snapping an Achilles tendon while playing in a quarter final match against South Korea, he is required to rest for almost 6 months. He made a comeback to the sport in the Asian Games later in 2006 but was clearly far from his best form.
In the 2008 summer Olympics he defeated reigning Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and once again failed to advance past the round of 16, losing to Hsieh Yu-Hsing of Taiwan.
He has set up a company "Pioneer Sdn Bhd" with former shuttlers Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming, and Chew Choon Eng to conduct badminton programs and hopefully produce world-class shuttlers for Malaysia.
Wong Choong Hann competed in Malaysia Open 2009, but was defeated by second-seeded Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
In May 2010, Wong Choong Hann was called back to play for Malaysian Thomas Cup squad.
In 2011 he played his last world championship, where he lost to Boonsak Ponsana in the second round.
Wong Choong Hann lost to an unseated Indian in the first round of Li Ning China Open.
He is the co-founder and current ambassador of LavieFlo, the first preserved flower retailer in Malaysia. He launched LavieFlo's showroom at Petaling Jaya in September 2012.
Personal life
Wong Choong Hann married Leaw Pik Sim on June 11, 2005. They have a daughter, named Kyra Wong, Wong Xinyue, and a son, named Kayden Wong Zixuan.
Achievements
| Rank | Event | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | |||
| 2 | Singles | 2003 | Birmingham, UK |
| Thomas Cup | |||
| 2 | Team | 1998 | Hong Kong |
| 2 | Team | 2002 | Guangzhou, CHN |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| 1 | Singles | 1998 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 1 | Team | 1998 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 1 | Team | 2006 | Melbourne, Australia |
| 2 | Singles | 2006 | Melbourne, Australia |
| 3 | Singles | 2002 | Manchester, UK |
| World Tournaments | |||
| 1 | Singles | 1997 | Dutch Open |
| 1 | Singles | 2002 | China Open |
| 1 | Singles | 2002 | Dutch Open |
| 1 | Singles | 2003 | Chinese Taipei Open |
| 1 | Singles | 2003 | Copenhagen Masters |
| 2 | Singles | 2003 | China Open |
| 2 | Singles | 2007 | China Masters |
| 2 | Singles | 2007 | New Zealand Open |
| 2 | Singles | 2009 | Macau Open |
| 2 | Singles | 2009 | Chinese Taipei Open |
| 2 | Singles | 2010 | Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold |