Ng Boon Bee

Malaysian Ng Boon Bee played football, rugby, and cricket, but his talent as a badminton player earned him the recognition of one of the greatest doubles players in the history of the sport.

During the 1960s Boon Bee and his doubles partner Tan Yee Khan were dominant in the doubles, winning titles at the All England, Asian Championships, Asian Games, and the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. After Yee Khan’s retirement, Boon Bee teamed up with Punch Gunalan. The pair won titles at the 1970 Asian Games, the 1970 Commonwealth Games, and the 1971 the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. At the 1972 München Olympics the pair also won the silver medal in the doubles event when badminton was a demonstration sport at the Olympics.

As a footballer Boon Bee represented the national team in the Merdeka Tournament. The Malaya team won the tournament outright in 1958 and 1959, and shared the title with South Korea in 1960. For his goal scoring in the 1958 tournament, Boon Bee was awarded with a gold watch from Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Boon Bee quit playing football after he was advised to concentrate his efforts on badminton.

Boon Bee played badminton for Malaysia until 1973. In 1998 he was inducted into the Badminton Hall of Fame. During his career Boon Bee won 17 gold medals in major international badminton tournaments.