Jang Hye-ock (; born 9 February 1977) is a

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 from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

who affiliate with Chungnam Provincial office team. She won the gold medal at the 1995 IBF World Championships in women's doubles, playing with Gil Young-ah. At 18 years, 3 months, and 19 days, she was the youngest player ever to win a World Championship title, in any discipline. The same year she won the 1995 All England Open Badminton Championships. She reached a career high as women's doubles world number 1 with Gil in August 1995. Jang competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and she won the silver medal in the women's doubles together with Gil Young-ah.

Career

Jang Hye-ock entered the national team in 1993 when she was in the second grade of Seongshim Girls' High School. Although she has a small physique, Jang was excellent as a play-maker, supporting her power and spirit to compete. In February 1996, she undergo surgery for an enlarged rib and after recovered her injury, she competed at the

, won a silver medal in the women's doubles with Gil Young-ah. In 1998, after playing two tournaments in Europe, she suffered a hip injury, and then she decided to leave the national team and the international tournaments. After her retirement, she keeps playing domestically for her local team and later for Jeonbuk Bank. She is now coaching in her alma mater, Seongshim Girls' High School. She did also coach the national junior team for about 3 years, back when

Lee Yong-dae Lee Yong-dae (; ; born 11 September 1988) is a South Korean professional badminton player who had been successful in both men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners, Jung Jae-sung, Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Ye ...

was on the team.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Women's doubles''

World Championships

''Women's doubles''

Asian Games

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Championships

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Cup

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

IBF World Grand Prix (11 titles, 9 runners-up)

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983. ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jang, Hye-ock 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Jeonju Badminton players from North Jeolla Province South Korean female badminton players Badminton players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for South Korea Olympic silver medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games badminton players for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players South Korean badminton coaches Asian Games gold medalists in badminton Asian Games silver medalists in badminton