Wong Peng Soon

Personal life and family

Wong was born into a large and wealthy family in Johor Bahru, Malaya. He was the seventh son of Mr Wong Ah Yam and Madam Mak Qui Tong. His granduncle is Wong Ah Fook, who was a good friend of Sultan Abu Bakar and was the contractor responsible for the construction of Istana Besar. Wong has nine brothers and seven sisters. Of his siblings, five brothers and one sister were also prominent Johore badminton players. The family stayed in a big mansion in Jalan Ah Siang, Johor Bahru. Wong married his wife, Doreen Poi Chim Neo, at a church in Seremban on 3 August 1947 and moved to Singapore shortly after. They lived at a single-storey home in Jalan Jarak, Seletar Hills and had three children together, namely Patricia, Audrey and Dennis.

Badminton career

Having grown up in a family with a love for badminton, Wong started playing the sport since young. His career began when he joined Mayflower Badminton Party as a teenager where he won numerous club and interstate competitions. He excelled in the singles event and quickly rose to become a household name in Singapore and Malaya.

In 1938, Wong won his first Singapore Open singles title and went on to win the tournament six more times in 1939, 1940, 1941, 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Wong also captured his first two Malaysia Open singles titles in 1940 and 1941 before a break due to World War II prevented him from continuing his career until 1947 where he once again won the crown. He then won five titles in a row from 1949 to 1953, until his run was stopped by Ong Poh Lim in 1954. His eight Malaysian singles titles were also a long-standing international circuit record jointly held by the legendary Rudy Hartono (eight times All England champions) and Morten Frost (eight times Denmark Open champions) till it was broken by Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in 2013.

In 1950, he became the first Asian to win the All-England Championships, and won the title again in 1951, 1952, and 1955, earning him an international reputation as the "Great Wong". He was also a member of the victorious Malayan Thomas Cup teams of 1949, 1952, and 1955, serving as captain of the last. His achievements in 1955 was remarkable because he was 37 years old at the time, an age by which most badminton players were considered past their prime.

Wong also won the Denmark Open men's singles title in 1950, the India Open men's singles and men's doubles titles with Abdullah Piruz in 1951 and the Philippines Open men's singles and men's doubles titles with Cheong Hock Leng in 1952.

Wong retired from competitive badminton after the 1955 Thomas Cup. He became a badminton coach for the Singapore Youth Sports Centre. He also coached the Malayan team in its bid to retain the Thomas Cup in 1958, when Malaya lost the title to Indonesia. Wong later took up coaching stints in Thailand, Canada, India and Japan, as well as at the Haarlem Badminton Club of Holland in 1966.

Awards

In 1956, his contribution to the sport was recognised when he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In 1962, he made local history as the first and still the only sportsperson to date to be awarded the Sijil Kemuliaan (Certificate of Honour) by the Government of Singapore. In 1985, the International Badminton Federation (IBF) awarded Wong the Distinguished Services Award for his services to the sport. In 1986, Wong was inducted into the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) Sports Museum Hall of Fame. Three years after his death, the International Badminton Federation (IBF) inducted him into its Hall of Fame posthumously in May 1999. Then chairman of the IBF, H R Ward, commented, that "Wong was one of the most remarkable players" and "had enhanced the sport through exceptional achievements". In a Straits Times poll of 2000, Wong was voted as Singapore's "Sports Personality of the Century". The Olympic Council of Malaysia inducted Wong into its Hall of Fame in 2004.

Death

Wong died on 22 May 1996, at the age of 78, due to pneumonia.

Trivia