Lee Hyo-jung

Lee Hyo-jung
Personal information
Birth name	이효정
Country	South Korea
Born	(1981-01-13) January 13, 1981 Seoul
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Years active	1999-2010
Handedness	Right
Women's/Mixed doubles
Highest ranking	1
Current ranking	1
Medal record Competitor for  South Korea Women's badminton Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Mixed doubles 2008 Beijing Doubles World Championships 2005 Anaheim Doubles 2009 Hyderabad Mixed doubles Uber Cup 2010 Kuala Lumpur Team 2002 Guangzhou Team 2004 Jakarta Team 2000 Kuala Lumpur Team 2008 Jakarta Team Sudirman Cup 2003 Eindhoven Team 2009 Guangzhou Team 2005 Beijing Team 2007 Glasgow Team Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou Mixed doubles
BWF profile

Lee Hyo-jung (Hangul: 이효정, Hanja: 李孝貞) (born January 13, 1981 in Seoul) is a female badminton player from South Korea.

She won the gold medal in badminton mixed doubles at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics with her partner, Lee Yong-dae. Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae were unseeded and in the finals they beat the top seeds and 2005 and 2007 world champions Lilyana Natsir and Nova Widianto of Indonesia, 21-11, 21-17.

Lee Hyo-jung also won the silver medal in badminton women's doubles at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics with her partner, Lee Kyung-won; they were seeded fourth and lost to the second-seeded Chinese pair, Du Jing and Yu Yang.

Lee became the first woman ever in Korean history to win gold medals at both the Olympics and the Asian Games. In the 2010 Asian Games, she partnered with Shin Baek-cheol instead of her usual partner, Lee Yong-dae. After winning the medal, she announced her retirement despite many pleas from her coaches and fans at home to continue playing until London Olympics in 2012. She also announced that she plans to finish her master's degree and get married.

Career

1998

Lee captured the gold medals in singles, women's double, mixed double events in World Junior Championship in Germany.^[1]

1999-2002

Lee made semi-finals in China Open (XD) and Hong Kong Open (WD) with Lee Dong Su and Yim Kyung Jin in 1999. Then Lee won the Asian Badminton Championship in women's double event with her partner Yim Kyung Jin in 2000. In 2002, Lee made the finals with her partner Hwang Yumi in women's event in Singapore Open.

2004

Lee competed for Korea in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles with partner Hwang Yu-mi.^[2] They had a bye in the first round and defeated Cheng Wen-Hsing and Chien Yu Chin of Chinese Taipei in the second. In the quarterfinals, Lee and Hwang lost to Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili of China 8-15, 15-6, 15-13.

2008

In March, Lee Hyo-jung won her first All England Open Championship title in women's doubles with partner Lee Kyung-won, beating Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen in the semifinals and Du Jing and Yu Yang in the final.

In August, Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong-dae won mixed doubles gold medals in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, beating Lilyana Natsir and Nova Widianto of Indonesia. After winning gold in the Olympics, they grabbed the China Open title.

2009

In 2009, Lee and Lee Yong-dae successfully becomes world number one. They won three titles: Korea Open Super Series, Asian Badminton Championship, and China Open Super Series. Lee and Lee also played for Korea in Sudirman Cup in May. In the final, Korea lost to China 0-3. Lee and Lee were defeated by the Chinese pair, Zheng Bo and Yu Yang.

2010

In May, Lee competed in the 2010 Uber Cup as a member of the South Korean women's national team. There she led her team to its first Uber Cup trophy, winning all 4 doubles matches she competed in through the tourney. In finals, she and her partner Kim Min-Jung won against WR #1 Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli, beating them 18-21, 21-12, 21-15. Although Lee and Kim were not regular partners and Lee Hyo-Jung stopped playing WD regularly in international games, Lee played exceptionally well, proving why she is the most successful player in 2008 Olympic winning both gold and silver medals.

In June, Lee continued on playing women's doubles with Kim Min-Jung, winning Indonesia Open, Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold and also finishing as a runner up in Singapore Open. While waiting for Lee Yong Dae to recover from his injury, she played mixed double with Shin Baek-cheol.

In August, Lee partnered again with Lee Yong Dae in Kumpoo Macau Open Badminton Championships, Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold, and World Championship but their best finish was reaching quarter final in Chinese Taipei Grand Prix. They were hit with Lee Hyo Jung's back injury and Lee Yong Dae getting used to playing again after rehab and possibly not fully recovering from the previous injury. Due to these reasons, the head coach in Korea Badminton Team was quoted saying that Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Yong Dae did not have sufficient time to practice together. Lee Yong Dae decided to stop playing XD altogether possibly due to the strain on his injured elbow from playing both MD and XD.

In November, Lee Hyo-jung entered Asian Games in 3 games total: WD, XD, and Team's event. In WD and Team's event, she grabbed bronze medals with Kim Min Jung. However, in XD, she partnered with Shin Baek-cheol, whom she previously played only 2 tournaments with, but they still managed to win against 2 Chinese pairs (Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, He Han Bin and Ma Jin) at their home court, becoming the first woman in Korean history to win both Olympic and Asian Game gold medals.

Achievements

Mixed Doubles

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lee Hyo-jung.

External links

• Lee Hyo-jung on Cyworld