11 Facts About Han Aiping

Han Aiping was a Chinese badminton player in the 1980s who ranks among the greats of the woman's game.

Han Aiping began her badminton training at the age of 10 in the Wuhan Amateur Sports School.

At just 17 Han won women's singles at the second of these.

At the 1983 World Championships Han Aiping defeated her top seeded compatriot Zhang Ailing in the semifinals but was defeated by an increasingly familiar opponent, Li Lingwei, in the finals.

However, when they faced each other in badminton's most prestigious events, Han Aiping was arguably very much Li's equal.

For example, Han Aiping lost the final of the 1983 World Championship to Li, but defeated Li in their next World Championship showdown in 1987, after having won the previous 1985 World Championship when Li had suffered a rare semifinal defeat.

Han Aiping won their only meeting at the quadrennial Asian Games in 1986.

At the 1987 World Championships where Han Aiping won her second consecutive world singles title, she and Li had to settle for silver in women's doubles, losing to their compatriots Lin Ying and Guan Weizhen in the finals.

The elder daughter, Guo Yushan, conducted badminton training at a local club, while the second daughter, Han Aiping Yalu, went into tennis training.

Han Aiping was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame in 1998.

Han Aiping died on 16 October 2019 due to lung cancer at the age of 57.