Name Zhang Ailing | Role Badminton | |
Zhang Ailing (Chinese: 张爱玲; pinyin: Zhāng Àilíng; born 1957) is a retired badminton player of China.
Career
In 1978 Zhang won the rival "world championship" that was run by the short-lived World Badminton Federation prior to China's entry into the International Badminton Federation (now Badminton World Federation). She was also the dominant international singles player right after China joined the IBF in 1981, winning the multi-sport World Games in 1981, the Asian Games in 1982, and the prestigious All-England Championships in both 1982 and 1983, as well as a host of other significant titles. In the 1983 IBF World Championships. However, she was beaten in the semifinal by Chinese teammate Han Aiping and after this result was unable to regain her previous dominance. Zhang played third singles on China's 1984 Uber Cup (women's international) team which won the team world championship.
Whether because Zhang, by then in her late twenties, could no longer beat her teammates Han and Li Lingwei, or because of her marriage to fellow Chinese player Chen Changjie, she disappeared from international badminton after the 1983-1984 season.