Kate Foo Kune
Mauritian badminton player (born 1993)
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Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune (born 29 March 1993) is a badminton player from Mauritius.[1] She began playing badminton in Mauritius at age six. Her first major tournament participation was 2013 BWF World Championships in China, where she lost in the first round of women's singles to Sarah Walker of England.[2] Foo Kune represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3] She was the flag bearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.[4] She also competed for Mauritius at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[5]
29 March 1993
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| Born | Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune 29 March 1993 Moka, Mauritius | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Mauritius | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Badminton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handedness | Left | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's singles & doubles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 57 (WS 21 April 2016) 69 (WD with Karen Foo Kune 5 April 2012) 89 (XD with Julien Paul 12 March 2024) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 97 (WS) 467 (WD with Kobita Dookhee) 112 (XD with Julien Paul) (16 July 2024) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BWF profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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As a junior player, she won the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments. In 2015, she was awarded the Sportswoman of the Year award in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison, while in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul. Her career-best ranking remains 63 as of 2016, and her best performance remains the gold at 2015 African games.
Personal life
Kate Foo Kune is the second child of Jacques and Cathy Foo Kune (née Ng), both leading mixed doubles badminton players who several championships, such as the 1985 Indian Ocean Games.[6] The pair were married in 1990 and had two children. Her sister, Karen Foo Kune, is also a professional badminton player and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Foo Kune pursued her bachelor's degree in sports management while in France.[7]
The sisters were paired and played doubles in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.[8] She has been married to Czech badminton player Milan Ludík since August 2020.[9]
Professional life
Foo Kune started playing badminton at the age of six and turned professional by twelve. She first participated in a junior competition at age 12 in 2005. She had her international debut Thomas and Uber Cup Qualification for Africa in 2010 held at Uganda. She was named Sportswoman of the Year in 2015 in Mauritius. In doubles, she partnered with Yeldy Marie Louison; in mixed doubles, she partnered with Julien Paul.[3] During the early part of her career, she paired with her sister Karen Foo Kune. She finished second during her first outing in the African Badminton Cup of Nations, but a few weeks later, she won the Mauritius International Series. She went on to win the Under-15 and Under-19 African tournaments.[10]
In September 2013, it was reported that she was one of the 14 players selected for the Road to Rio Program, a program that aimed to help African badminton players compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[11]
As of 2016, she lived in Paris, France,[12] and joined Issy-Les-Moulineaux Badminton Club. Before this, she trained for four months in Malaysia and Leeds, England.[10]
Foo Kune was part of the Mauritius badminton squad which won the title at the 2016 Africa Continental Team Badminton Championships[13] in February 2016, which also confirms the participation of Mauritius in 2016 Uber Cup. In June 2016, Foo Kune won the 2016 European Badminton Club Championships with her club despite losing in the final to Beatriz Corrales.[14] She was the flagbearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.[15] She won her first match against Wendy Chen Hsuan-Yu of Australia, but was defeated by Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand and failed to qualify for the next round.[12]
Foo Kune served a two-year competition ban from December 2020 to December 2022 for an anti-doping rule violation in relation to unintentional use of androstenedione following a test at the 2019 African Badminton Championships.[16][17] Although the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Doping Hearing Panel had earlier ruled that Foo Kune was not a fault and should receive no sanction, the Court of Arbitration for Sport disagreed and imposed the ban following an appeal by BWF.[18]
Achievements
All African Games
Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Gymnase Étienne Mongha, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo |  Grace Gabriel |
21–13, 21–19 |  Gold |
Women's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Gymnase Étienne Mongha, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo |
 Yeldy Louison |
 Juliette Ah-Wan Allisen Camille |
20–22, 21–18, 14–21 |  Silver |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Borteyman Sports Complex, Accra, Ghana |
Julien Paul |
 Koceila Mammeri Tanina Mammeri |
13–21, 26–24, 15–21 |  Bronze |
African Championships
Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | National Badminton Centre, Rose Hill, Mauritius | Grace Gabriel |
23–25, 12–21 | Silver |
| 2014 | Lobatse Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana | Grace Gabriel |
21–14, 14–21, 21–17 | Gold |
| 2017 | John Barrable Hall, Benoni, South Africa |  Hadia Hosny |
16–21, 21–14, 21–8 | Gold |
| 2018 | Salle OMS Harcha Hacéne, Algiers, Algeria | Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan |
21–16, 21–19 | Gold |
| 2019 | Alfred Diete-Spiff Centre, Port Harcourt, Nigeria | Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan |
12–21, 13–21 | Silver |
| 2020 | Cairo Stadium Hall 2, Cairo, Egypt | Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan |
21–19, 21–16 | Gold |
| 2024 | Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex, Cairo, Egypt |  Fadilah Mohamed Rafi |
walkover | Gold |
In November 2019, Badminton World Federation released a statement regarding the doping test failure of Kate Foo Kune in this championships and decided to disqualify her result.[16]
Women's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Marrakesh, Morocco | Karen Foo Kune |
 Michelle Edwards Annari Viljoen |
21–19, 9–21, 8–21 | Bronze |
| 2014 | Lobatse Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana |
Yeldy Louison |
Juliette Ah-Wan Allisen Camille |
21–17, 22–20 | Gold |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | John Barrable Hall, Benoni, South Africa |
Julien Paul |
Andries Malan Jennifer Fry |
19–21, 21–19, 19-21 | Silver |
| 2024 | Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex, Cairo, Egypt | Julien Paul |
Koceila Mammeri Tanina Mammeri |
6–21, 11–21 | Bronze |
BWF International Challenge/Series (13 titles, 11 runners-up)
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Mauritius International | Grace Gabriel |
21–18, 16–21, 24–22 |  Winner |
| 2014 | Morocco International |  Lianne Tan |
11–7, 9–11, 9–11, 8–11 |  Runner-up |
| 2014 | Zambia International | Grace Gabriel |
21–16, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2015 | Nigeria International | Grace Gabriel |
21–14, 11–21, 12–21 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | Zambia International |  Sorayya Aghaei |
15–21, 1–0 retired | Winner |
| 2015 | Botswana International |  Laura Sarosi |
10–21, 14–21 | Runner-up |
| 2016 | Uganda International |  Telma Santos |
10–21, 12–21 | Runner-up |
| 2016 | Norwegian International |  Yap Rui Chen |
13–21, 8–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Zambia International |  Ksenia Polikarpova |
14–21, 21–16, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2017 | South Africa International |  Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka |
10–21, 10–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Uganda International | Hadia Hosny |
21–19, 21–10 | Winner |
| 2019 | South Africa International |  Katharina Fink |
21–16, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2023 | Brazil International | Yasmine Hamza |
19–21, 21–15, 25–23 | Winner |
| 2023 | South Africa International | Nour Ahmed Youssri |
21–16, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2023 | French Guiana International |  Chequeda De Boulet |
21–8, 21–4 | Winner |
Women's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Mauritius International | Yeldy Louison |
 Annika Horbach Maria Masinipeni |
12–21, 12–21 | Runner-up |
| 2014 | Zambia International | Grace Gabriel |
Michelle Butler-Emmett Elme de Villiers |
17–21, 21–19, 17–21 | Runner-up |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Hatzor International |  Florent Riancho |
 Gennadiy Natarov Yuliya Kazarinova |
6–11, 7–11, 11–8, 10–11 | Runner-up |
| 2014 | Zambia International | Julien Paul |
Ali Ahmed El-Khateeb Doha Hany |
21–18, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2017 | Brazil International | Jonathan Persson |
 Hugo Arthuso Fabiana Silva |
11–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Mauritius International | Jonathan Persson |
Yogendran Khrishnan Prajakta Sawant |
7–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Zambia International | Jonathan Persson |
Misha Zilberman Svetlana Zilberman |
Walkover | Winner |
| 2018 | Uganda International | Jonathan Persson |
Julien Paul Aurélie Allet |
21–11, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2023 | Botswana International | Julien Paul |
Melvin Appiah Vilina Appiah |
21–10, 21–15 | Winner |
- BWF International Challenge tournament
- BWF International Series tournament
- BWF Future Series tournament
Career overview
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- * Statistics were last updated on 18 February 2020.[19]
