Bang Soo-hyun

In this Korean name, the family name is Bang.

Bang Soo-hyun (Korean: 방수현; Hanja: 方銖賢; born 13 September 1972) is a former badminton player from South Korea who was one of the world's leading women's singles players of the 1990s. She was a contemporary and rival of Indonesia's Susi Susanti and China's Ye Zhaoying. Noted for a style that combined impressive power and movement, she retired from competition after her victory in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, shortly before her 24th birthday. She was elected to the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 2019.

Bang Soo-hyun
Personal information
Country	South Korea
Born	(1972-09-13) 13 September 1972 Seoul, South Korea
Handedness	Right
Women's singles
Highest ranking	1
Medal record Women's badminton Representing South Korea Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Women's singles 1992 Barcelona Women's singles World Championships 1993 Birmingham Women's singles 1995 Lausanne Women's singles World Cup 1994 Ho Chi Minh Women's singles 1992 Guangzhou Women's singles Sudirman Cup 1991 Copenhagen Mixed team 1993 Birmingham Mixed team 1995 Lausanne Mixed team Uber Cup 1996 Hong Kong Women's team 1992 Kuala Lumpur Women's team Asian Games 1994 Hiroshima Women's singles 1994 Hiroshima Women's team Asian Championships 1995 Beijing Women's singles Asian Cup 1995 Qingdao Women's singles 1991 Jakarta Women's singles
BWF profile

Career

Summer Olympics

Barcelona 1992

Bang competed in badminton at the 1992 Summer Olympics in women's singles. She had a bye in the first round, defeated Catrine Bengtsson of Sweden in the second and Hisuko Mizui of Japan in the third. In quarterfinals Bang Soo-hyun edged Sarwendah Kusumawardhani of Indonesia 11–2, 3–11, 12–11 to advance to the semifinals. There, she beat the reigning world champion Tang Jiuhong of China 11–3, 11–2. In the final, she lost to Indonesia's Susi Susanti 11–5, 5–11, 3–11 to finish with the silver medal.

Atlanta 1996

Bang also competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She won the gold medal in women's singles without dropping a game in any match, defeating Susi Susanti in semifinals 11–9, 11–8, and Mia Audina in the final, 11–6, 11–7.

World Championships

She won two medals in the IBF World Championships, in 1993 a silver medal as runner-up to Susanti, and in 1995 a bronze medal.

Other championships

Bang won the quadrennial Asian Games in 1994, and the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships over Ye Zhaoying in 1996, having been a runner-up in close matches in both 1992 and 1993. Her other titles included the Welsh (1989), Hong Kong (1992), South Korea (1993, 1994, 1996), Swedish (1993, 1994), and Canadian (1995) Opens.

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1992	Pavelló de la Mar Bella, Barcelona, Spain	Susi Susanti	11–5, 5–11, 3–11	Silver
1996	GSU Sports Arena, Atlanta, United States	Mia Audina	11–6, 11–7	Gold

World Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1993	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England	Susi Susanti	11–7, 9–11, 3–11	Silver
1995	Malley Sports Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland	Han Jingna	6–11, 4–11	Bronze

World Cup

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1992	Guangdong Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China	Huang Hua	12–10, 9–11, 9–11	Bronze
1994	Phan Đình Phùng Indoor Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Susi Susanti	9–12, 6–11	Silver

Asian Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1994	Tsuru Memorial Gymnasium, Hiroshima, Japan	Hisako Mizui	11–4, 11–6	Gold

Asian Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1995	Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Beijing, China	Yao Yan	11–5, 7–11, 3–11	Bronze

Asian Cup

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1991	Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia	Tang Jiuhong	7–11, 11–6, 4–11	Silver
1995	Xinxing Gymnasium, Qingdao, China	Mia Audina	1–11, 11–2, 13–12	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
1992	Korea Open	Tang Jiuhong	6–11, 3–11	Runner-up
1992	All England Open	Tang Jiuhong	12–9, 10–12, 1–11	Runner-up
1992	Hong Kong Open	Susi Susanti	5–11, 11–6, 11–7	Winner
1992	Thailand Open	Susi Susanti	7–11, 4–11	Runner-up
1993	Japan Open	Ye Zhaoying	6–11, 5–11	Runner-up
1993	Korea Open	Susi Susanti	12–9, 11–5	Winner
1993	Swedish Open	Lee Heung-soon	11–2, 11–6	Winner
1993	All England Open	Susi Susanti	11–4, 4–11, 1–11	Runner-up
1994	Korea Open	Kim Ji-hyun	11–5, 11–5	Winner
1994	Swedish Open	Kim Ji-hyun	6–11, 11–5, 11–3	Winner
1994	Indonesia Open	Susi Susanti	11–2, 0–11, 1–11	Runner-up
1994	Hong Kong Open	Lim Xiaoqing	11–7, 11–6	Winner
1994	China Open	Ye Zhaoying	11–8, 11–8	Winner
1995	Korea Open	Susi Susanti	11–3, 7–11, 9–11	Runner-up
1995	Japan Open	Susi Susanti	7–11, 11–12	Runner-up
1995	Malaysia Open	Susi Susanti	1–11, 6–11	Runner-up
1995	Indonesia Open	Susi Susanti	6–11, 7–11	Runner-up
1995	Singapore Open	Lim Xiaoqing	7–11, 11–6, 8–11	Runner-up
1995	USA Open	Ye Zhaoying	10–12, 11–3, 8–11	Runner-up
1995	Canada Open	Ra Kyung-min	11–0, 11–7	Winner
1995	Hong Kong Open	Mia Audina	5–11, 11–4, 11–5	Winner
1996	All England Open	Ye Zhaoying	11–1, 11–1	Winner
1996	Korea Open	Yao Yan	11–3, 11–0	Winner

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1994	China Open	Jang Hye-ock	Ge Fei Gu Jun	8–15, 2–15	Runner-up

IBF International

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1988	Welsh Open	Julie Munday	5–11, 11–0, 11–8	Winner

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

Players	Matches	Results		Difference
		Won	Lost
Anna Lao	1	1	0	+1
Dai Yun	1	1	0	+1
Han Aiping	2	0	2	–2
Han Jingna	6	5	1	+4
Huang Hua	6	3	3	0
Tang Jiuhong	11	5	6	–1
Wang Chen	1	1	0	+1
Yao Yan	7	6	1	+5
Ye Zhaoying	17	8	9	–1
Zhang Ning	4	4	0	+4
Huang Chia-chi	3	3	0	+3

Players	Matches	Results		Difference
		Won	Lost
Camilla Martin	2	2	0	+2
Helen Troke	1	1	0	+1
Mia Audina	6	6	0	+6
Sarwendah Kusumawardhani	6	4	2	+2
Susi Susanti	25	6	19	–13
Yasuko Mizui	4	4	0	+4
Kim Ji-hyun	5	5	0	+5
Lee Heung-soon	1	1	0	+1
Lim Xiaoqing	5	4	1	+3
Somharuthai Jaroensiri	2	2	0	+2

External links

• BANG Soo Hyun at InternationalBadminton.org at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-09-29)
• BANG Soo Hyun at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com
• BANG Soo Hyun at BWFBadminton.com