Sung Ji-hyun (; born 29 July 1991) is a South Korean badminton player from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. She is an Asian Championship gold medalist, a two-time

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referr ...

gold medalist, and a

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

bronze medalist. She was also part of South Korean teams that won the 2010 Uber Cup, 2017 Sudirman Cup, as well the team event at the 2013 and 2015 Summer Universiade. She competed at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Asian Games, and at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and 2016 Summer Olympics. Sung is married to compatriot men's singles player, Son Wan-ho.

Early life and education

Sung went into

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 ...

following the path of her parents

Sung Han-kook Sung Han-kook (born November 19, 1963) is a former badminton player and coach from South Korea. Career Sung won the men's singles title at the 1986 U.S. Open Badminton Championships, U.S. Open and earlier that year, he won bronze at the Badmin ...

and Kim Yun-ja who both competed internationally in the 1980s.

Career

She won the Korea Grand Prix Gold title in 2011. Unlike most South Korean badminton players Sung has focused on singles and in December 2011 she received a career high ranking of number seven in the world in that discipline. In 2012, Sung's performances at Super Series event improved, and she reached semifinals in the Indonesia Open, Singapore Open and Japan Open. She was seeded 8th at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. However, she lost to

Yip Pui Yin Yip Pui Yin (; born 6 August 1987) is a badminton player from Hong Kong. Career Yip played at the 2005 World Badminton Championships in Anaheim. In the women's singles event she reached the third round after beating Laura Molina of Spain and ...

and did not make it past the group stage. She defended her Korea Grand Prix title at the end of the year. Sung won her first Super Series Premier title early in 2013 at her hometown, at the Korea Open. This propelled her ranking up to world no.5, the highest of her career. Sung reached the semi finals at the All England, losing to eventual winner Tine Baun in a match that lasted for 76 minutes, with a final score of 22–24, 21–19, 19–21. She later won the 2013 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold against Tai Tzu-ying, 21–16, 21–9. Then, she reached the finals of

2013 Denmark Super Series Premier The 2013 Denmark Super Series Premier is the ninth super series tournament of the 2013 BWF Super Series. The tournament was held in Odense, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and roya ...

losing to Wang Yihan in 21–16, 18–21, 20–22. In

2013 Korea Open Grand Prix Gold The 2013 Korea Grand Prix Gold was the fifteenth badminton tournament of the 2013 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held in Jeonju Indoor Badminton Court, Jeonju, South Korea November 5–10, 2013 and had a total purse of $ ...

, she went up against compatriot Bae Youn-joo and she was beaten in 3 sets, 21–19, 15–21, 21–9. At the

2014 German Open Grand Prix Gold The 2014 German Open Grand Prix Gold was the second grand prix gold and grand prix tournament of the 2014 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held in RWE-Sporthalle, Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany from February 25 until March 2 ...

, she reached the final which Sayaka Takahashi won, 21–17, 8–21, 21–12. At the

2014 Badminton Asia Championships The 2014 Badminton Asia Championships was the 33rd edition of the Badminton Asia Championships. It was held in Gimcheon, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern ...

, she became the first South Korean in 10 years to win the title, beating 1st seeded Wang Shixian 21–19, 21–15. At the

2014 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold The 2014 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold was the ninth grand prix gold and grand prix tournament of the 2014 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held in Taipei Arena, Taipei, Chinese Taipei July 15–20, 2013 and had ...

, she won 21–13, 21–18 against Liu Xin. She qualified for the Dubai 2014 BWF Super Series Masters Finals and lost to Tai Tzu-ying in the final, 17–21, 12–21. Total world champion 2015 semi-final

She won the

2015 German Open Grand Prix Gold The 2015 German Open Grand Prix Gold was the Third grand prix gold and grand prix tournament of the 2015 BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. The tournament was held in RWE-Sporthalle, Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany from February 24 until March 1, ...

beating

Carolina Marin Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in t ...

21–15, 14–21, 21–6. In 2017, she helped the

South Korean national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*su ...

to win the world team championships at the 2017 Sudirman Cup. 2019 Chinese Taipei Open 02

Achievements

BWF World Championships

''Women's singles''

Asian Championships

''Women's singles''

Summer Universiade

''Women's singles''

BWF World Tour (1 title, 1 runner-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

(BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Women's singles''

BWF Superseries (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year. ''Women's singles'' : BWF Superseries Finals tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament : BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (10 titles, 3 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the

BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling Professional wrestling i ...

. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. ''Women's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament :

BWF Grand Prix BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists. Accurate as of 21 January 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sung, Ji-hyun 1991 births Living people Badminton players from Seoul South Korean female badminton players Badminton players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of South Korea Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Universiade gold medalists for South Korea Universiade medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade 21st-century South Korean women