Tan Joe Hok

Who is Tan Joe Hok?

Tan Joe Hok is an Indonesian badminton hero, who along with Ferry Sonneville and a cadre of fine doubles players set the foundation for an Indonesian badminton dynasty by dethroning then perennial Thomas Cup champion Malaysia in 1958.

Tan Joe Hok lived in Bandung until he finished high school. He received his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Baylor University, Texas, United States.

He was the first Indonesian to win the All England Open and the first Indonesian to win a gold medal in Asian Games. He won both the U.S. Open and Canadian Open singles titles consecutively in 1959, and 1960. He has many other notable achievements in the badminton field, both as a player and a coach, most particularly, winning all but one of his singles matches for Indonesia's world champion Thomas Cup teams of 1958, 1961, and 1964.