Choi Young-ja (born 30 May 1975) is a former professional tennis player from South Korea.

Choi Young-ja
Country (sports) South Korea
Born (1975-05-30) 30 May 1975 (age 48)
Seoul, South Korea
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Retired2006
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$95,879
Singles
Career record213-105
Career titles8 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 178 (20 May 1996)
Doubles
Career record131-85
Career titles12 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 136 (27 July 1998)
Choi Young-ja
Hangul
최영자
Hanja
Revised RomanizationChoe Yeongja
McCune–ReischauerCh'oe Yŏngcha

Biography edit

A right-handed player from Seoul, Choi began playing tennis at the age of 10. She won her first ITF tournament at Bangkok in 1993 and began touring professionally after graduating from high school in 1994.[1]

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta she made the second round of the singles competition, with a win over South Africa's Joannette Kruger, before she was eliminated by 11th seed Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands.[2]

Choi represented the South Korea Fed Cup team in a total of 16 ties. She was most successful in Fed Cup tennis as a doubles player, losing only one of her 12 matches. In singles she won three rubbers, one of which was against Li Na in 1999.

She won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games and was also a bronze medalist in the team competition.[3]

ITF finals edit

Singles (8-12) edit

Legend
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in final Score in final
Winner 1. 28 November 1993 Bangkok, Thailand Hard   Jeon Mi-ra 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Winner 2. 30 January 1994 Bandung, Indonesia Hard   Kim Soon-mi 7-6, 6-1
Winner 3. 29 May 1994 Nanjing, China Hard   Li Yan-ling 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
Runner-up 4. 6 June 1994 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Kim Eun-ha 3–6, 5–7
Runner-up 5. 21 May 1995 Beijing, China Hard   Wen Yuan 6-4, 6-4
Runner-up 6. 28 May 1995 Beijing, China Hard   Li Li 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 7. 4 June 1995 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Kim Eun-ha 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up 8. 17 March 1996 Taipei, Chinese Taipei Hard   Weng Tzu-ting 1-6, 6-3, 4-6
Winner 9. 24 March 1996 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Hard   Christiane Hofmann 1–6, 6–1, 6–3
Winner 10. 31 March 1996 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Cho Yoon-jeong 6–2, 6–1
Runner-up 11. 1 April 1996 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Saori Obata 2-6, 2-6
Runner-up 12. 6 May 1996 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Kim Eun-ha 6–2, 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 13. 23 March 1997 Noda, Japan Hard   Kerry-Anne Guse 6-0, 4-6, 2-6
Runner-up 14. 6 April 1997 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Cho Yoon-jeong 4-6, 1-6
Winner 15. 13 April 1997 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Cho Yoon-jeong 6-1, 7-5
Runner-up 16. 28 March 1999 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Choi Jin-young 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Winner 17. 21 November 1999 Haibara, Japan Carpet   Kumiko Iijima 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 18. 27 February 2000 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Chae Kyung-yee 6–1, 3–6, 1–6
Winner 19. 11 June 2000 Incheon, South Korea Hard   Chung Yang-jin 6-1, 6-2
Runner-up 20. 13 August 2000 Nonthaburi, Thailand Hard   Jeon Mi-ra 1-6, 3-6

Doubles (12-12) edit

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 23 May 1994 Beijing, China Hard   Choi Ju-yeon   Bi Ying
  Li Li
6-7, 7-6, 4-6
Winner 2. 29 May 1994 Nanjing, China Hard   Choi Ju-yeon   Jeon Mi-ra
  Yoo Kyung-sook
6-2, 6-3
Runner-up 3. 29 May 1995 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Choi Jin   Kim Ih-sook
  Kim Eun-ha
4-6, 5-7
Winner 4. 18 March 1996 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Hard   Kum Ok-im   Nao Akahori
  Keiko Ishida
5-7, 1-6
Runner-up 5. 5 May 1996 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Benjamas Sangaram   Catherine Barclay
  Kerry-Anne Guse
1-6, 2-6
Runner-up 6. 23 March 1997 Noda, Japan Hard   Jeon Mi-ra   Yuko Hosoki
  Keiko Nagatomi
2-6, 2-6
Runner-up 7. 5 May 1997 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Park Sung-hee   Cho Yoon-jeong
  Kim Eun-ha
3–6, 6–7(6)
Winner 8. 4 August 1997 Jakarta, Indonesia Clay   Kim Eun-ha   Kerry-Anne Guse
  Kristine Kunce
6–3, 6–4
Winner 9. 15 September 1997 Taipei, Taiwan Hard   Kim Eun-ha   Kerry-Anne Guse
  Catherine Barclay
1–6, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 10. 18 October 1998 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Catherine Barclay   Shinobu Asagoe
  Kirstin Freye
2-6, 6-7
Winner 11. 28 March 1999 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Kim Eun-sook   Tomoe Hotta
  Hiroko Mochizuki
6-4, 7-5
Runner-up 12. 9 May 1999 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Kim Eun-sook   Samantha Schoeffel
  Iroda Tulyaganova
3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up 13. 21 November 1999 Haibara, Japan Carpet   Kim Eun-sook   Maki Arai
  Kumiko Iijima
2-6, 0-6
Runner-up 14. 20 February 2000 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Kim Eun-sook   Yayuk Basuki
  Irawati Iskandar
5–7, 5–7
Winner 15. 18 June 2000 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Kim Eun-sook   Chae Kyung-yee
  Chang Kyung-mi
6–0, 6–0
Runner-up 16. 13 August 2000 Nonthabuiri, Thailand Hard   Kim Eun-sook   Jeon Mi-ra
  Chae Kyung-yee
3–6, 2–6
Winner 17. 20 August 2000 Nonthabuiri, Thailand Hard   Kim Eun-sook   Jeon Mi-ra
  Chae Kyung-yee
1–6, 6–1, 6–1
Runner-up 18. 10 June 2001 Hilton Head, United States Hard   Jeon Mi-ra   Kristy Blumberg
  Karin Miller
4–6, 6–7(1)
Winner 19. 17 June 2001 Mount Pleasant, United States Hard   Jeon Mi-ra   Jane Chi
  Lioudmila Skavronskaia
6–7(2), 6–2, 6–2
Winner 20. 24 June 2001 Easton, United States Hard   Jeon Mi-ra   Kristy Blumberg
  Karin Miller
6-1, 6-1
Winner 21. 16 September 2001 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Kim Eun-sook   Rika Hiraki
  Kim Eun-ha
6–3, 6–3
Winner 22. 25 February 2002 New Delhi, India Hard   Kim Eun-ha   Eva Birnerová
  Jana Hlaváčková
6–7(4), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 23. 2 June 2002 Tianjin, China Hard (i)   Choi Jin-young   Chan Chin-wei
  Tong Ka-po
3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Winner 24. 22 July 2002 Incheon, South Korea Hard   Kim Mi-ok   Kim Eun-sook
  Cho Eun-hye
6–2, 6–4

References edit

  1. ^ "Young-Ja Choi - Bio". wtatennis.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Choi Yeong-Ja Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Sun too hot for rivals". BBC Online. 12 October 2002. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

External links edit