Kate Foo Kune

Kate Foo Kune
Personal information
Birth nameKate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune
CountryMauritius
Born (1993-03-29) 29 March 1993
Moka, Mauritius
ResidenceParis, France
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
HandednessLeft
Women's singles & doubles
Highest ranking57 (WS 21 April 2016)
69 (WD with Karen Foo Kune 5 April 2012)
89 (XD with Julien Paul 12 March 2024)
Current ranking97 (WS)
467 (WD with Kobita Dookhee)
112 (XD with Julien Paul) (16 July 2024)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Mauritius
African Games
2015 Brazzaville Women's singles
2015 Brazzaville Mixed team
2015 Brazzaville Women's doubles
2023 Accra Mixed doubles
African Championships
2014 Gaborone Women's singles
2014 Gaborone Women's doubles
2017 Benoni Women's singles
2018 Algiers Women's singles
2020 Cairo Women's singles
2024 Cairo Women's singles
2013 Rose Hill Women's singles
2017 Benoni Mixed doubles
2023 Benoni Mixed team
2025 Douala Mixed team
2011 Marrakesh Women's doubles
2011 Marrakesh Mixed team
2013 Rose Hill Mixed team
2014 Gaborone Mixed team
2024 Cairo Mixed doubles
Africa Team Championships
2016 Rose Hill Women's team
2018 Algiers Women's team
2008 Rose Hill Women's team
2012 Addis Ababa Women's team
2020 Cairo Women's team
BWF profile

Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune (born 29 March 1993) is a badminton player from Mauritius.[1] She began playing badminton in Mauritius at age six. Her first major tournament participation was 2013 BWF World Championships in China, where she lost in the first round of women's singles to Sarah Walker of England.[2] Foo Kune represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3] She was the flag bearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.[4]

As a junior player, she won the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments. In 2015, she was awarded the Sportswoman of the Year award in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison, while in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul. Her career-best ranking remains 63 as of 2016, and her best performance remains the gold at 2015 African games.

Personal life

Kate Foo Kune is the second child of Jacques and Cathy Foo Kune (née Ng), both leading mixed doubles badminton players who several championships, such as the 1985 Indian Ocean Games.[5] The pair were married in 1990 and had two children. Her sister, Karen Foo Kune, is also a professional badminton player and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Foo Kune pursued her bachelor's degree in sports management while in France.[6]

The sisters were paired and played doubles in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.[7] She has been married to Czech badminton player Milan Ludík since August 2020.[8]

Professional life

Foo Kune started playing badminton at the age of six and turned professional by twelve. She first participated in a junior competition at age 12 in 2005. She had her international debut Thomas and Uber Cup Qualification for Africa in 2010 held at Uganda. She was named Sportswoman of the Year in 2015 in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison; in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul.[3] During the early part of her career, she paired with her sister Karen Foo Kune. She finished second during her first outing in the African Badminton Cup of Nations, but a few weeks later, she won the Mauritius International Series. She went on to win the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments.[9]

In September 2013, it was reported that she was one of the 14 players selected for the Road to Rio Program, a program that aimed to help African badminton players compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]

As of 2016, she lived in Paris, France,[11] and joined Issy-Les-Moulineaux Badminton Club. Before this, she trained for four months in Malaysia and Leeds, England.[9]

Foo Kune was part of the Mauritius badminton squad which won the title at the 2016 Africa Continental Team Badminton Championships[12] in February 2016, which also confirms the participation of Mauritius in 2016 Uber Cup. In June 2016, Foo Kune won the 2016 European Badminton Club Championships with her club despite losing in the final to Beatriz Corrales.[13] She was the flagbearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.[14] She won her first match against Wendy Chen Hsuan-Yu of Australia, but was defeated by Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand and failed to qualify for the next round.[11]

Foo Kune served a two-year competition ban from December 2020 to December 2022 for an anti-doping rule violation in relation to unintentional use of androstenedione following a test at the 2019 African Badminton Championships.[15][16] Although the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Doping Hearing Panel had earlier ruled that Foo Kune was not a fault and should receive no sanction, the Court of Arbitration for Sport disagreed and imposed the ban following an appeal by BWF.[17]

Achievements

All African Games

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2015 Gymnase Étienne Mongha, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo Grace Gabriel 21–13, 21–19 Gold

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2015 Gymnase Étienne Mongha,
Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo 		Yeldy Louison Juliette Ah-Wan
Allisen Camille 		20–22, 21–18, 14–21 Silver

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2023 Borteyman Sports Complex,
Accra, Ghana 		Julien Paul Koceila Mammeri
Tanina Mammeri 		13–21, 26–24, 15–21 Bronze

African Championships

Women's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2013 National Badminton Centre, Rose Hill, Mauritius Grace Gabriel 23–25, 12–21 Silver
2014 Lobatse Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana Grace Gabriel 21–14, 14–21, 21–17 Gold
2017 John Barrable Hall, Benoni, South Africa Hadia Hosny 16–21, 21–14, 21–8 Gold
2018 Salle OMS Harcha Hacéne, Algiers, Algeria Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan 21–16, 21–19 Gold
2019 Alfred Diete-Spiff Centre, Port Harcourt, Nigeria Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan 12–21, 13–21 Silver
2020 Cairo Stadium Hall 2, Cairo, Egypt Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan 21–19, 21–16 Gold
2024 Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex, Cairo, Egypt Fadilah Mohamed Rafi walkover Gold

In November 2019, Badminton World Federation released a statement regarding the doping test failure of Kate Foo Kune in this championships and decided to disqualify her result.[15]

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2011 Marrakesh, Morocco Karen Foo Kune Michelle Edwards
Annari Viljoen 		21–19, 9–21, 8–21 Bronze
2014 Lobatse Stadium,
Gaborone, Botswana 		Yeldy Louison Juliette Ah-Wan
Allisen Camille 		21–17, 22–20 Gold

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 John Barrable Hall,
Benoni, South Africa 		Julien Paul Andries Malan
Jennifer Fry 		19–21, 21–19, 19-21 Silver
2024 Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex, Cairo, Egypt Julien Paul Koceila Mammeri
Tanina Mammeri 		6–21, 11–21 Bronze

BWF International Challenge/Series (13 titles, 11 runners-up)

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2013 Mauritius International Grace Gabriel 21–18, 16–21, 24–22 Winner
2014 Morocco International Lianne Tan 11–7, 9–11, 9–11, 8–11 Runner-up
2014 Zambia International Grace Gabriel 21–16, 21–17 Winner
2015 Nigeria International Grace Gabriel 21–14, 11–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2015 Zambia International Sorayya Aghaei 15–21, 1–0 retired Winner
2015 Botswana International Laura Sarosi 10–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2016 Uganda International Telma Santos 10–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2016 Norwegian International Yap Rui Chen 13–21, 8–21 Runner-up
2017 Zambia International Ksenia Polikarpova 14–21, 21–16, 21–18 Winner
2017 South Africa International Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka 10–21, 10–21 Runner-up
2018 Uganda International Hadia Hosny 21–19, 21–10 Winner
2019 South Africa International Katharina Fink 21–16, 21–14 Winner
2023 Brazil International Yasmine Hamza 19–21, 21–15, 25–23 Winner
2023 South Africa International Nour Ahmed Youssri 21–16, 21–14 Winner
2023 French Guiana International Chequeda De Boulet 21–8, 21–4 Winner

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Mauritius International Yeldy Louison Annika Horbach
Maria Masinipeni 		12–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2014 Zambia International Grace Gabriel Michelle Butler-Emmett
Elme de Villiers 		17–21, 21–19, 17–21 Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Hatzor International Florent Riancho Gennadiy Natarov
Yuliya Kazarinova 		6–11, 7–11, 11–8, 10–11 Runner-up
2014 Zambia International Julien Paul Ali Ahmed El-Khateeb
Doha Hany 		21–18, 21–14 Winner
2017 Brazil International Jonathan Persson Hugo Arthuso
Fabiana Silva 		11–21, 19–21 Runner-up
2017 Mauritius International Jonathan Persson Yogendran Khrishnan
Prajakta Sawant 		7–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2017 Zambia International Jonathan Persson Misha Zilberman
Svetlana Zilberman 		Walkover Winner
2018 Uganda International Jonathan Persson Julien Paul
Aurélie Allet 		21–11, 21–18 Winner
2023 Botswana International Julien Paul Melvin Appiah
Vilina Appiah 		21–10, 21–15 Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

Career overview

* Statistics were last updated on 18 February 2020.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Athlete Kate Foo Kune". www.rio2016.com. Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Badminton: Kate Foo Kune s'incline au 1er tour". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Players: Kate Foo Kune". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Porte-drapeau de la délégation Mauricienne : Kate Foo Kune, l'histoire retiendra" [Kate Foo Kune made history, will be the flag bearer for the Mauritian delegation] (in French). Le Mauricien. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  5. ^ Korimdun, Naushad (28 December 2015). "Famille Foo Kune: quand le badminton unit et construit". Defi Media. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Olympics 2016: Kate Foo Kune And Badminton, A Family Story". Visit Mauritius. 26 July 2016. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Mauritian shuttler Foo Kune owns her life to Badminton". Sports Campus. 16 August 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  8. ^ "A badminton wedding: Kate Foo Kune & Milan Ludík". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  9. ^ a b Hearn, Don (29 August 2013). "Kate Foo Kune – Beating the odds from 'the middle of nowhere'". Badzine. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Newsletter du Mois de Septembre 2013 Road to Rio". Africa Badminton. Badminton Confederation Africa. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Without badminton I wouldn't exist, says Mauritian shuttler Foo Kune". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  12. ^ "SA, Mauritius Crowned Champions: Africa Continental Team Championships finals". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  13. ^ Phelan, Mark (26 June 2016). "Corvee inspires Issy to European glory". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  14. ^ "The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony". 16 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  15. ^ a b "BWF Statement on Mauritius Badminton Player Kate Jessica Foo Kune". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  16. ^ "African badminton champion Kate Foo Kune handed two-year doping ban". BBC Sport. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Badminton player Foo Kune banned for 2 years in doping case". Associated Press. 16 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Kate Foo Kune: Career overview". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
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