Kate Foo Kune

Kate Foo Kune

File:Kate Foo Kune.jpg
Personal information
Born	Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune (1993-03-29) 29 March 1993 Moka, Mauritius
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
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 Women's badminton Representing Mauritius African Games Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville Women's singles Gold medal – first place 2015 Brazzaville Mixed team Silver medal – second place 2015 Brazzaville Women's doubles Bronze medal – third place 2023 Accra Mixed doubles African Championships Gold medal – first place 2014 Gaborone Women's singles Gold medal – first place 2014 Gaborone Women's doubles Gold medal – first place 2017 Benoni Women's singles Gold medal – first place 2018 Algiers Women's singles Gold medal – first place 2020 Cairo Women's singles Gold medal – first place 2024 Cairo Women's singles Silver medal – second place 2013 Rose Hill Women's singles Silver medal – second place 2017 Benoni Mixed doubles Silver medal – second place 2023 Benoni Mixed team Silver medal – second place 2025 Douala Mixed team Bronze medal – third place 2011 Marrakesh Women's doubles Bronze medal – third place 2011 Marrakesh Mixed team Bronze medal – third place 2013 Rose Hill Mixed team Bronze medal – third place 2014 Gaborone Mixed team Bronze medal – third place 2024 Cairo Mixed doubles Africa Team Championships Gold medal – first place 2016 Rose Hill Women's team Gold medal – first place 2018 Algiers Women's team Bronze medal – third place 2008 Rose Hill Women's team Bronze medal – third place 2012 Addis Ababa Women's team Bronze medal – third place 2020 Cairo Women's team

Kate Jessica Kim Lee Foo Kune (born 29 March 1993) is a badminton player from Mauritius. 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. Foo Kune represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was the flag bearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations.

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. 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.

The sisters were paired and played doubles in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. She has been married to Czech badminton player Milan Ludík since August 2020.

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. 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.

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.

As of 2016, she lived in Paris, France, and joined Issy-Les-Moulineaux Badminton Club. Before this, she trained for four months in Malaysia and Leeds, England.

Foo Kune was part of the Mauritius badminton squad which won the title at the 2016 Africa Continental Team Badminton Championships 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. She was the flagbearer for Mauritius during the Parade of Nations. 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.

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. 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.

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 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 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 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 Silver
2014	Lobatse Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana	Grace Gabriel	21–14, 14–21, 21–17	Gold Gold
2017	John Barrable Hall, Benoni, South Africa	Hadia Hosny	16–21, 21–14, 21–8	Gold Gold
2018	Salle OMS Harcha Hacéne, Algiers, Algeria	Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan	21–16, 21–19	Gold Gold
2019	Alfred Diete-Spiff Centre, Port Harcourt, Nigeria	Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan	12–21, 13–21	Silver Silver
2020	Cairo Stadium Hall 2, Cairo, Egypt	Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan	21–19, 21–16	Gold Gold
2024	Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex, Cairo, Egypt	Fadilah Mohamed Rafi	walkover	Gold 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.

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 Bronze
2014	Lobatse Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana	Yeldy Louison	Juliette Ah-Wan Allisen Camille	21–17, 22–20	Gold 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 Silver
2024	Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex, Cairo, Egypt	Julien Paul	Koceila Mammeri Tanina Mammeri	6–21, 11–21	Bronze 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

Singles	Played	Wins	Losses	Balance
Total	329	199	129	+70
Current year (2020)	9	8	1	+7

Women's doubles	Played	Wins	Losses	Balance
Total	100	56	44	+12
Current year (2020)	3	2	1	+1

Mixed doubles	Played	Wins	Losses	Balance
Total	84	44	40	+4
Current year (2020)	0	0	0	0

* Statistics were last updated on 18 February 2020.

External links

• Africa Badminton