Derek Wong (born Wong Zi Liang, traditional Chinese: 黃梓良, 13 January 1989) is a retired Singaporean

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player. Wong is a two-time Olympian, who took part at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where he was flag bearer in the latter's Parade of Nations.

Early life

Wong was born on 13 January 1989, in Singapore, to parents Wong Shoon Keat and Irene Lee. He grew up in a badminton-loving family with three other brothers (Shawn, Jamie and Jason). Both his parents are former national champions and they own a badminton shop at the old Singapore Badminton Hall. Wong started playing badminton, at age 5 when his father took him to the hall to play badminton for the first time. Since then, he would do his school homework at the shop before playing badminton with some friendly uncles in the hall till his parents closed the shop for the day. Wong turned professional in 2008 after consulting with his parents and peers, right after his O-levels.

Career

2011 World Championships

Wong shocked Indonesia's

Taufik Hidayat Taufik Hidayat (born 10 August 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player who is the current Deputy Minister for Youth and Sport of Indonesia. He is a former BWF World Championships, World champion, Badminton at the Summer Olympics, Olymp ...

, a former Olympic champion in the second round of the World Championships. He defeated the Indonesian star 21–17, 21–14 to earn a place in the third round against

Hans-Kristian Vittinghus Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (born 16 January 1986) is a retired Danish badminton player. He was a member of the winning Denmark team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China. Career Junior He won 4 junior national titles, 2 in singles ...

of Denmark.

2011 Southeast Asian Games

Wong upset Vietnam's

Nguyễn Tiến Minh Nguyễn Tiến Minh (born February 12, 1983) is a Vietnamese badminton player. His best achievement to date was the bronze medal at the 2013 BWF World Championships, World Championship in 2013. Career Introduced to badminton by his father ...

, then ranked in the world's top 10, at the quarterfinals of the Sea Games. He also came agonisingly close to upsetting the eventual gold medalist,

Simon Santoso Simon Santoso (born 29 July 1985) is an Indonesian former badminton player. He was two-time SEA Games men's singles champion winning in 2009 and 2011, also featured in Indonesia team that won the men's team title in 2003, 2007, 2009, and 2011. ...

, in the next round. He led in the early stages of the semifinal match before succumbing to the Indonesian in straight sets.

2012 London Olympics

Wong's Olympic debut ended after a 21–17, 21–14 loss to

Jan Ø. Jørgensen Jan Østergaard Jørgensen (born 31 December 1987) is a Danish retired badminton player who played for SIF (Skovshoved) in the national league. He won the men's singles title at the 2014 European Badminton Championships, 2014 European Championshi ...

in his final Group I match at London's

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

on 31 July to finish second in the three-man group. "Of course, I wanted to play more games instead of just two. But being in my first Olympics has been a huge experience, and one that I will use for my career," Wong said afterwards. He had earlier beaten Israel's

Misha Zilberman Misha Zilberman (; ; born 25 January 1989) is an Olympic badminton player. Born in Russia, he competed for Israel at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, coming in 33rd, 14th, and 15th respectively, with his 2024 results still to be ...

21–9, 21–15 on 29 July.

2014 Commonwealth Games

Wong advanced to the men's singles final but lost to

Parupalli Kashyap Parupalli Kashyap (born 8 September 1986) is an Indian former badminton player. A former World No. 6, he is a coach at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2012. He became the first male player from India to reac ...

of India 14–21, 21–11, 21–19, winning a silver medal.

2016 Rio Olympics

Wong qualified for the

and was the

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

flag bearer. During group play, he finished in second place in his group and did not advance.

Retirement

After the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Wong resigned from the

Singapore Badminton Association Singapore Badminton Association (abbreviation: SBA) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for badminton in Singapore. It governs, encourages and develops the sport throughout the country. Founded in 1929, the SBA is an affilia ...

(SBA), thus confirming his retirement from professional badminton. He later joined consulting firm

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

on 26 September 2016, to start his post-badminton career. Wong is also looking to groom the next generation of shuttlers by opening his own badminton academy in the near future.

Personal life

Wong started dating his fellow national shuttler

Vanessa Neo Vanessa Neo Yu Yan (born 19 June 1987) is a Singaporean former badminton player specializing in doubles. She represented Singapore in 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she won a bronze medal in the team competition. Achievements BWF Grand P ...

in 2007 when he joined the national squad full-time. They got married in May 2015 and have two children together.

Awards

Wong received the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Meritorious Award from the

Singapore National Olympic Committee The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) is the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the Republic of Singapore. It was founded in 1947 as the Singapore Olympic and Sports Council (SOSC) before renaming to its curr ...

Achievements

Commonwealth Games

''Men's singles''

Southeast Asian Games

''Men's singles''

BWF International Challenge/Series

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

References

External links

* * * (2010) * (2014) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Derek 1989 births Living people Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Singaporean male badminton players Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for Singapore Badminton players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Singapore Commonwealth Games silver medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Singapore Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in badminton Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Singapore Competitors at the 2007 SEA Games Competitors at the 2009 SEA Games Competitors at the 2011 SEA Games Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Competitors at the 2015 SEA Games SEA Games silver medalists for Singapore SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in badminton Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games