Anna Lao

Anna Oi Chan Lao AM (born 7 May 1962)[1][2] is the most successful Badminton player in the history of Australian Badminton. She was ranked 5th in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where Badminton had only been introduced for the first time as an Olympic Sport. Lao played in the Quarter finals for two disciplines; Women's Singles & Women's Doubles where most participants only make it through one discipline. Prior to her participation in the Olympics, she had dominated the National scene, hold the titles of Australian Open Champion 1988 (Ladies Singles), Australian Open Triple Champion 1989 (Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles & Mixed Doubles) & Australian Open Triple Champion 1991 (Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles & Mixed Doubles).

Anna Lao
AM
Personal information
CountryAustralia
Born7 May 1962 (1962-05-07) (age 59)[1][2]
Tournaments played1992 Summer Olympics
BWF profile

In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lao was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for her 'significant service to badminton, sports & to the multicultural community'.

Anna is one of the few National Level Coaches in Australia today with over 30 years of experience. She has developed over 200 State, National & International players in Australia and is well known as the founder and head coach in Australian Badminton Academy since 2002, the largest Badminton Academy in New South Wales, Australia. Since her commitment to the academy, she has taken thousands of students through her training program as well as developing hundreds of Badminton coaches in New South Wales. As an important ambassador of Badminton, she has also been the head of the World Badminton Federation Australia Division Tournaments since 2013.

Pre-Career

Lao was ranked 2nd in China before she left to represent Australia in the Olympics, in which she was ranked 1st in Australian (Australian Badminton Champion). She dominated in the National scene and spiked everyone's attention, holding the times of:

  • Holds a Master of Sports in China (1985)
  • Australian Open Champion 1988
    • Ladies Singles
  • Australian Open Triple Champion 1989
    • Ladies Singles; Ladies Doubles; Mixed Doubles
  • 3rd in Doubles at Malaysian Open 1989
  • Australian Open Triple Champion 1991
    • Ladies Singles; Ladies Doubles; Mixed Doubles
  • New Zealand Open Triple Champion 1991
  • French Open Doubles Champion 1992
  • 3rd in Doubles at the Swedish Open 1992

1992 Barcelona Olympics (Ranked 5th in the Quarter finals)

Badminton was first introduced to the Olympic Games in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Lao placed 5th in Ladies Singles & Ladies Doubles, a rank that has been unbeaten in the history of all past & present Australian Badminton Olympian's.

Women's Doubles:

Anna played with her doubles partner Rhonda Cator who was an Australian Champion in Badminton before 1988 where they played 3 rounds of badminton. Their first game with Swiss players Silvia Albrecht & Bettina Villars were a success scoring 15-3 (1st Game) & 15-6 (2nd Game). Their second round was with Polish players Bozena Bak & Wioletta Sosnowska where they won 15-3 (1st game) & 15-12 (2nd Game). Lao and Cator entered the Quarter finals with the World Champions Lin Yanfen & Yao fen where they lost the games 13-18 (1st game) & 5-15 (2nd game) giving them the title of 5th in the Barcelona Olympics.

Women's Singles:

Lao played a total of 4 games and entered the Quarter finals before coming 5th in the Barcelona Olympics. Her first game was with Bettina Villars, a Swiss Badminton Player and won easily with an 11-0 (1st game) & 11-4 (2nd Game). Her second round was a success with Camilla Martin, a player from Denmark who later on received the European Championship 3 times. Lao won her singles game with Martin scoring 11-6 (1st Game) & 12-11 (2nd Game). She later played with the European Champion at the time, Elena Rybkhina where they played 3 singles games. Lao lost the first game (7-11), won the 2nd game (11-7) and won the 3rd game (11-8). After winning her third round of games, she was placed in the Quarter finales where she versed Tang Jiuhong, a World Champion and lost both games 9-11 (1st Game) & 1-11(2nd Game). This is where she was placed 5th in Women's Singles.

Career - Post Olympics to Present

After Lao participated in the Quarter finals and held her rank at 5th in he world, she came back to Australia with a new inspiration to grow Badminton as a sport in Australia.

2002 - Present: The Introduction of Australian Badminton Academy

Anna founded her first Badminton Academy in 2002 where she started teaching her friends and family in Macquarie University, UTS & North Sydney Boys. Her audience started to expand as she took on more locations and more students and has now developed the largest Badminton Academy in New South Wales.

Through the academy, she has developed more then 100 state players representing New South Wales Badminton Australia (NSWBA) and over 100 elite players who have played international competitions. She has developed the following achievements:

  • Developed a 2008 Australian Olympian
  • Developed National U19 Ladies Triple Champion 2002
  • Developed National U17 Men's Triple Champion 2006
  • Developed National U15 Ladies Singles & Doubles Champion 2012
  • Developed National U17 Ladies Doubles Champion & Ladies Single Runner Up 2018
  • Developed National U17 Ladies Doubles Champion & Runner Up 2019
  • NSW Badminton Champions each year

2010 - Present: Became a Member of the World Chinese Badminton Federation Council (WCBF)

  • Running tournaments between 2012 - 2016
  • Promoted 16 Multicultural badminton clubs in Sydney from 2012 to 2016

2011 - Present: President of the Australian Community Badminton Association

  • Lao promoted quite heavily and gained many supporters to grow Badminton in NSW

2012: Became a Member of the Australian Open

  • A member between 2012-2016, where she supported and hosted Badminton Tournaments on behalf of Australia and took students into state & national competitions

2012 - Present: Appointed as a President of the World Chinese Badminton Federation Council Australia Division (WCBFAUS)

  • Running and promoting the WCBF Australia Division Veterans team where they participated in many International tournaments from 2010 to present. They won many gold medals during the years and grew their sponsors

2013 - Present: Founded the Australian Badminton Club

  • While competitive players grew, so did social players. In 2013, Anna created a social club where she would invite everyone at all levels to play badminton, meet friends and learn from her

2021 - Present: Become a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia

Her support in the Multicultural Committees
  • Committee Member, Australian Guangxi Friendship Association, since 2015
  • Former Committee Member, Eastwood Chinese Senior Citizens Club
  • Member or Australian Chinese and Descendants Mutual Association
  • Former Sponsor and Volunteer of Ryde Eastwood Lunar New Year Celebrations

Awards & Recognitions - Post-Olympics
  • Courvoisier Award for Excellence Sports (1993)
  • World Morning Cup 50-54 age Mix-Doubles Champion, Double 3rd (2012)
  • World Morning Cup 50-54 age Mix-Doubles Champion, Double 3rd (2013)
  • WCBF 20th Anniversary Individual Events 50-54 age Mix-Doubles Champion, Doubles 3rd (2013)
  • Award Medal (AM) as a Member of the Order of Australian (2021)

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Anna Lao". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  2. "Anna Lao". olympics.com.au. Australian Olympic Committee.


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