Sun Zhian

Sun Zhian
孙志安
Sun Zhian; 孙志安
Personal information
Country	China
Born	1956 (age 67–68); Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Years active	1971–1986
Handedness	Right
Event	Men's doubles
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing China
World Games
World Championships
Thomas Cup
Asian Games
Asian Championships

Sun Zhian (Chinese: 孙志安; pinyin: Sūn Zhì'ān; born 1956) is a Chinese former badminton player and coach. He is the gold medalist in World Games in 1981 and a former World Champion.

Early life and career

Sun Zhian was born in 1956 in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. In 1970, 14-year-old Sun Zhian entered the junior high school of No. 32 Middle School in Suzhou. One day, Zhang Weidao, a physical education teacher, approached him and informed him that he was selected to go to Nanjing for a training camp. If he was qualified, he was expected to become a member of the Jiangsu badminton team. Sun started playing badminton at the age of 14 with no former training.

In 1971, 14-year-old Sun Zhian became the youngest member of the first batch of players in the Jiangsu provincial badminton team after three months of intensive training and selection. Sun used to train for 8 hours in a day. After the 1975 National Games, he was selected for the national training team. In 1978, he officially became a member of the Chinese national badminton team. With this, he also became the first badminton player from Jiangsu to be selected for the national team.

Sun Zhian partnered with Yao Ximing and won the 1979 WBF World Championships held in Hangzhou. With this, they retained the title for China in men's doubles category of the World Championships. He also won the fourth national games held in Beijing in September the same year, partnering Zhao Xinhua. He was felicitated by Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping after the match due to his World Championship victory in Hangzhou earlier in the year.^[1]^[2]

Sun then won the 1981 World Games held in Santa Clara, United States with partner Yao Ximing. They defeated two strong Indonesian pairs in quarterfinals and semi-finals. In the final they beat the Swedish pair to win the gold medal.^[3] He was the part of Chinese at the 1982 Thomas Cup held in London, United Kingdom. With his long time partner Yao Ximing, he played two matches in the final clash against the defending champions Indonesia. They won one match which proved instrumental in Chinese victory and hence claiming the Thomas Cup for the very first time which according to Sun Zhian himself was the most memorable moment of his entire career. He was also the member of Chinese team which won silver in the 1984 Thomas Cup campaign.^[4]

Retirement and Coaching career

Sun retired in 1986 and officially became a coach in Jiangsu badminton team and went on to become the Head coach in 1992. As a coach he trained a group of outstanding players who went on to become World and Olympic champions, such as Sun Jun, Liu Yong, Ge Fei, Gu Jun, Cai Yun and Zhang Jun. He is also credited with 4 consecutive men's team championship titles for Jiangsu badminton team in the National Games of China. Sun Zhian officially retired as a coach in 2016.^[5]

Achievements

World Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1979	Hangzhou, China	Yao Ximing	Luan Jin Yu Yaodong	15–9, 15–3	Gold

World Games

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1981	San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States	Yao Ximing	Stefan Karlsson Thomas Kihlström	12–15, 15–4, 15–6	Gold

Asian Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1976	Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, India	Yao Ximing	Ade Chandra Tjun Tjun	Walkover	Silver
1983	Netaji Indoor Stadium, Calcutta, India	Zhao Jianhua	Sung Han-kook Yoo Byung-hwan	10–15, 6–15	Bronze

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1976	Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, India	Li Fang	Shoichi Toganoo Etsuko Toganoo	11–15, 12–6 retired	Bronze

Invitational tournament

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1977	Asian Invitational Championships	Yao Ximing	Hou Jiachang Yu Yaodong	Walkover	Bronze

References

^ "孙志安江苏省第一位世界冠军" [Sun Zhian, the first world champion in Jiangsu Province] (in Simplified Chinese). Government of Jiangsu. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
^ "China win two titles at WBF meet". The Straits Times. 21 June 1979. p. 24. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
^ "China take lion's share of shuttle titles". The Straits Times. 31 July 1981. p. 31. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
^ "江苏第一个世界冠军孙志安：见证了江苏羽毛球最辉煌的时代" [Jiangsu's first world champion Sun Zhi'an: Witnessed the most glorious era of Jiangsu badminton] (in Simplified Chinese). Sina Corporation. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
^ 大舒 (18 November 2006). "20年耕耘江苏羽坛孙志安：培养新的世界冠军" [20 years of hard work in Jiangsu badminton Sun Zhian: training a new world champion] (in Simplified Chinese). Sohu. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

[1] "孙志安江苏省第一位世界冠军" [Sun Zhian, the first world champion in Jiangsu Province] (in Simplified Chinese). Government of Jiangsu. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

[2] "China win two titles at WBF meet". The Straits Times. 21 June 1979. p. 24. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

[3] "China take lion's share of shuttle titles". The Straits Times. 31 July 1981. p. 31. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

[4] "江苏第一个世界冠军孙志安：见证了江苏羽毛球最辉煌的时代" [Jiangsu's first world champion Sun Zhi'an: Witnessed the most glorious era of Jiangsu badminton] (in Simplified Chinese). Sina Corporation. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

[5] 大舒 (18 November 2006). "20年耕耘江苏羽坛孙志安：培养新的世界冠军" [20 years of hard work in Jiangsu badminton Sun Zhian: training a new world champion] (in Simplified Chinese). Sohu. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

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