Tan Joe Hok


Tan Joe Hok is an Indonesian former badminton player, who along with Ferry Sonneville and a cadre of fine doubles players set the foundation for an Indonesian badminton dynasty by dethroning then-perennial Thomas Cup champion Malaya in 1958.
Tan Joe Hok lived in Bandung until he finished high school. He received his degree in Chemistry and Biology from Baylor University, Texas, United States.
He was the first Indonesian to win the All England Open in 1959 and the first Indonesian to win a gold medal in Asian Games, which happened at home in 1962. He won both the U.S. Open and Canadian Open singles titles consecutively in 1959 and 1960. He has many other notable achievements in the badminton field, both as a player and a coach, most particularly, winning all but one of his singles matches for Indonesia's world champion Thomas Cup teams of 1958, 1961, and 1964.

Personal

He married former badminton player Goei Kiok Nio in 1965 and they have two children. Tan Joe Hok had a difficulty establishing full citizenship in Indonesia because he could not obtain an SBKRI, a mandatory document for non-indigenous and especially Chinese-Indonesian during the racist U.S.-backed dictatorship of Suharto. He said, "It wouldn't be hard for us to move overseas but we don't want to do that because we are Indonesians. Even if it was raining gold overseas, we will remain here, in the land where Indonesian blood has been spilled."

Education

Men's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1957India Championships Amrit Dewan15–2, 15–7 Champion
1958East India Championships Eddy Yusuf15–10, 15–9 Champion
1959All England Open Ferry Sonneville15–8, 10–15, 15–3 Champion
1959Thailand Championships Charoen Wattanasin15–10, 9–15, 15–6 Champion
1959Canadian Open Charoen Wattanasin15–4, 15–10 Champion
1959US Open Charoen Wattanasin7–15, 15–5, 18–14 Champion
1960Canadian Open Finn Kobberø10—15, 15—8, 15—13 Champion
1960US Open Charoen Wattanasin15–6, 15–8 Champion
1962US Open Ferry Sonneville15–17, 17–18 Runner-up

Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
1960Canadian Open Charoen Wattanasin Lim Say Hup
Teh Kew San
8–15, 8–15 Runner-up
1963All England Open Ferry Sonneville Finn Kobberø
J. H. Hansen
6–15, 5–15 Runner-up
1969Canadian Open Charoen Wattanasin Tony Jordan
Robert McCoig
7–15, 6–15 Runner-up

Mix's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
1960Canadian Open Sushila Kapadia Finn Kobberø
Jean Miller
21–16, 11–21, 21–15 Runner-up
1967Malaysia Open Retno Koestijah Darmadi
Minarni Soedaryanto
15–9, 15–8 Champion