Utami Dewi Kinard (born 16 June 1951) is a former world-class

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 who was considered Indonesia's #1 women's singles player in the 1970s, and became the United States' #1 player in 1981, after marrying former 6 time U.S. men's singles champion,

Chris Kinard Chris Kinard (born November 8, 1950, in Pasadena, California) is an American badminton player who was considered the top U.S. singles player in the 1970s, having been the U.S. # 1 ranked men's singles player for 7 of the decade's 10 years. He is ...

. She is also the sister of 8 time All-England singles champion,

Rudy Hartono Rudy Hartono Kurniawan (born Nio Hap Liang ( zh, s=梁海量, p=Liáng Hǎiliàng, poj=Niô͘ Hái-liâng); 18 August 1949) is an Indonesian former badminton player holding the record of winning the men's singles title at the All-England Champio ...

Early life

Utami Dewi was born in Surabaya in 1951. She is the sister of 8 time All England singles champion,

. She initially pursued running, and in the 1967 PASI championship at the Senayan Jakarta, Dewi won the women's 800 meter running event. She graduated from the Vocational Education Institute of Tarakanita in 1974.

Career

Utami Dewi was the number 1 Indonesian women's singles player from 1971 to 1975. She played singles for the Indonesian Uber Cup teams of

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

(competitions then held every 3 years). The 1975 team was Indonesia's first to win the Women's World Team Championship. She was the second Indonesian player to reached the women's singles semi finals at the

All England Open The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

. As Mrs. Utami Kinard she ended her career as the #1 U.S. women's singles player in 1981 representing the U.S. as the #1 player on the 1981 U.S. Uber Cup team. Along with her Indonesian and U.S. titles, Utami Dewi won the Asian singles championship in 1971, the Australian Open singles champion in 1975, the Mexican Open women's singles and mixed doubles Champion in 1979, and the South African singles champion in 1980.

Additional badminton career highlights

1972 - Munich Olympics - Won the Silver medal in badminton women's singles (badminton was a demonstration sport). 1975 - All-England Badminton Championship -Reached the semi-finals of the women's singles. Represented either Indonesia, or the U.S., or both internationally in the following countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand.

Awards in badminton

In 1981, she was in

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

's "Faces in the Crowd".http://quicktime.cnnsi.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124526/index.htm

Achievements

Olympic Games (demonstration)

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

Asian Championships

''Women's singles''

International tournaments

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles''

References

External links

* * 1951 births Living people Badminton players from Surabaya Indonesian sportspeople of Chinese descent Indonesian female badminton players Badminton players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1970 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Indonesia Asian Games badminton players for Indonesia Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Indonesian emigrants to the United States American female badminton players 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen Olympic badminton players for Indonesia {{Indonesia-badminton-bio-stub