Introduction
Sung Ji-hyun (born July 29, 1991) is a South Korean badminton player from Seoul. She competed at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
Early life and education
Sung went into badminton following the path of her parents Sung Han-kook and Kim Yun-ja who both competed internationally in the 1980s.
Career
She won the Korea Grand Prix Gold title in 2011. Unlike most South Korean badminton players Sung has focused on singles and in December 2011 she received a career high ranking of number seven in the world in that discipline.
In 2012, Sung's performance at Super Series was progressingly better, with semi final performance in Indonesia Open, Singapore Open and Japan Open. She was seeded 8th at the Olympics 2012. However, her lackluster performance in the Olympics 2012 saw her failing to make past the group match, losing to Yip Pui Yin. She defended her title Korea Grand Prix Gold title at the end of the year.
Sung won her first Super Series Premier title early in 2013 at her hometown, the Korea Open. This propelled her ranking up to world no.5, the highest of her career. Sung reached semi final at the All England, losing to the eventual winner Tine Baun in an exciting match lasted for 76 minutes, 22-24, 21-19, 19-21. She later won the 2013 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold against Tai Tzu-ying 21–16, 21–9. Then, she reached the finals of 2013 Denmark Super Series Premier losing to Wang Yihan in 21–16, 18–21, 20–22. In 2013 Korea Open Grand Prix Gold, she went up against compatriot Bae Youn-joo and she was beaten in 3 sets 21–19, 15–21, 21–9.
In 2014 German Open Grand Prix Gold, She went on to the finals. Sayaka Takahashi won 21–17, 8–21, 21–12. In 2014 Badminton Asia Championships, she became the first South Korean in 10 years to win the title, beating 1st seeded Wang Shixian 21-19, 21-15. In 2014 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold, she won 21–13, 21–18 against Liu Xin. She qualified for the Dubai 2014 BWF Super Series Masters Finals and lost to Tai Tzu-ying in the final, 17-21, 12-21
She won the 2015 German Open Grand Prix Gold beating Carolina Marin 21-15, 14-21, 21-6
Individual Titles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent in final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Chinese Taipei Open |  Ratchanok Intanon | 22-20, 21-14 |
| 2011 | Korea Masters |  Han Li | 21-18, 21-16 |
| 2012 | Korea Masters |  Aprilia Yuswandari | 21-10, 21-10 |
| 2013 | Korea Open | Wang Shixian | 21-12, 22-20 |
| 2013 | Chinese Taipei Open |  Tai Tzu-ying | 21-16, 21-9 |
| 2014 | Badminton Asia Championships | Wang Shixian | 21-19, 21-15 |
| 2014 | Chinese Taipei Open | Liu Xin | 21-13, 21-18 |
| 2015 | German Open |  Carolina Marin | 21-15, 14-21, 21-6 |
| 2015 | Korea Open | Wang Yihan | 21-14, 17-21, 21-18 |
| 2015 | Thailand Open |  Liang Xiaoyu | 21-11, 21-14 |
| 2016 | Syed Modi International |  Sayaka Sato | 12-21, 21-18, 21-18 |
| 2016 | New Zealand Open | Aya Ohori | 21-15, 21-17 |
| 2016 | Korea Masters |  Lee Jang-mi | 21-8, 21-10 |
- BWF Superseries Premier tournament
- BWF Superseries tournament
- BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
- Badminton Asia Championships
Record against selected opponents
Singles results against Superseries finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists, plus all Olympic opponents - as of 16 August 2016:
Petya Nedelcheva 2–1- Linda Zechiri 3–1
Jiang Yanjiao 3–1- Li Xuerui 1–11
- Liu Xin 2–2
- Wang Shixian 5–7
- Wang Xin 3–4
- Wang Yihan 3–12
- Yao Xue 1–0
- Wang Lin 1–1
Cheng Shao-chieh 2–0- Tai Tzu-ying 6–8
Tine Baun 1–6
Pi Hongyan 1–2- Delphine Lansac 1–0
Juliane Schenk 3–4
Yip Pui Yin 6–3- Zhou Mi 1–1
Lindaweni Fanetri 5–0
Saina Nehwal 1–6- P. V. Sindhu 3–5
Eriko Hirose 7–0- Sayaka Sato 12–1
- Minatsu Mitani 6–1
- Shizuka Uchida 1–0
- Nozomi Okuhara 4–3
- Akane Yamaguchi 4–1
Bae Youn-joo 3–4
Wong Mew Choo 1–0
Sara Blengsli Kværnø 1–0
Liang Xiaoyu 3–0
Carolina Marín 1–5
Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 9–3- Ratchanok Inthanon 6–6
