Sabtu, 29 September 2012

Tony Gunawan


Tony Gunawan was born 9 April 1975 is an Indonesian born badminton player of Chinese descent.
Gunawan is a former Olympic gold medalist and world champion for Indonesia, and now represents the United States. He is regarded by many, including his peers, as one of the greatest doubles players in badminton's history . A superb all-around player with a particular facility in the forecourt, his versatility in doubles is unmatched, having won the 2000 Olympics gold medal, the 2001 World Championships, and 2005 World Championships with 3 different partners.
He won the Men's Doubles gold medal in the 2005 IBF World Championships from the 13th seeded position with his American partner Howard Bach. Gunawan partnered with Halim Haryanto to win the 2001 IBF World Championships as well as the 2001 All-England Open, and with Candra Wijaya to win the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He was a member of the world champion 2000 Indonesia Thomas Cup team, winning his final match against China with yet another partner, Rexy Mainaky.
Gunawan and Bach won the 2005 IBF World Championships Men's Doubles gold over Gunawan's ex-partner Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto who were also finalists in the 2003 IBF World Championships in the same event. Tony played for Indonesia from 1992–2001 and is the winner of numerous international titles. He has coached and played for USA since 2001. Tony is currently studying in Orange Country, California and coaches at San Gabriel Badminton Club 2 (Pomona).