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Leanne Choo
Leanne Choo
Personal information
Full name	Leanne Nyuk Lian Choo ; 周玉蓮
Country	Australia
Born	5 June 1991 (age 33); Ashford, Adelaide, South Australia
Residence	Melbourne, Victoria
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Handedness	Left
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking	22
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing Australia
Oceania Championships
Oceania Mixed Team Championships
Oceania Women's Team Championships
	BWF profile

Leanne Choo (born 5 June 1991) is a badminton player from Australia.^[1] She is the reigning Oceania Champion in women's and mixed doubles. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics, alongside former women's doubles partner, Renuga Veeran. Choo also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Personal

Leanne Choo, nicknamed Choo, was born in Adelaide, South Australia. She attended Glen Osmond Primary School and graduated from Glenunga International High School. In 2010, she enrolled at the University of Adelaide to pursue a degree in architecture and is now pursuing a degree in neuroscience.^[2]^[3]

Choo is a member of the Sturt Badminton Club, the largest badminton club in South Australia.^[4]

Career

Early career – 2012

Choo started playing badminton when she was eight years old.^[2] She rose to prominence as a junior, becoming the first South Australian to win a triple crown at a national event. Due to her ongoing success, she was made a member of the Australian National Team. As a member of the national team, she is based at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, in Melbourne, Victoria.^[5]

Choo has represented Australia multiple times including at the 2006, 2007 and 2009 BWF World Junior Championships. She continued representing Australia at a junior level at the 2007 Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney and the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. Her senior debut was at the 2010 Uber Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She also competed at the 2012 edition in Wuhan, China. Choo has also represented Australia at the World Mixed Team Championships, the Sudirman Cup in 2011 and 2015.^[2]

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, Choo began her partnership with Renuga Veeran. The pair almost staged an upset in the quarterfinals against the number one seeds from Singapore, Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari. This was the first international tournament in which Choo and Veeran competed.^[3]^[6] The duo officially formed their partnership soon afterwards.

Choo and Veeran competed at the 2011 BWF World Championships in London where they reached the second round. The pair demolished Steffi Annys and Severine Corvilain of Germany 21–6, 21–9 in the first round before losing to 10th seeds, and eventual bronze medalists of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova of Russia in three games.^[7]

2012 Summer Olympics

Choo was part of Australia's badminton team contingent at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, her Olympic debut as a 21-year-old.^[3]^[8]^[9]^[10] At the end of the Olympic qualifying period, Choo and Veeran were ranked 35th in the world. During the qualifying process, their ranking peaked at 26.^[11] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Choo and Veeran performed well in their round robin matches, thrashing their South African opponents and staying in contention with their Korean and Indonesian opponents, ranked world number three end eight respectively at the time. Unfortunately, they placed third in their pool and could not advance to the quarterfinals.

However, four pairs, including Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia, and Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung of Korea, were disqualified from the competition. The pairings were disqualified for "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" as they were intentionally trying to lose matches in order to secure an easier quarterfinal draw.

Choo and Veeran therefore advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were defeated by Alex Bruce and Michelle Li of Canada. They finished in 5th place, the best result in Australia's history of Olympic badminton.^[12]^[13]

Results from 2012 Summer Olympics

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Result
Group C Pool Match 1	28 July 2012	Meiliana Jauhari Greysia Polii	21–0 21–0 (DSQ) (11–21 21–19 14–21)	Win
Group C Pool Match 2	29 July 2012	Michelle Claire Edwards Annari Viljoen	21–9 21–7	Win
Group C Pool Match 2	30 July 2012	Ha Jung Eun Kim Min Jung	21–0 21–0 (DSQ) (7–21 19–21)	Win
Quarterfinals	1 August 2012	Alex Bruce Michelle Li	9–21 21–18 18–21	Loss

2014 – present

In April 2014, Choo formed her partnership with Robin Middleton in mixed doubles. In June 2016, the pair qualified for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, in both the women's doubles, with Veeran, and the mixed team.^[14]

Achievements

Oceania Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Stadium Southland, Invercargill	Chia Chi Huang	7–21, 8–21	Bronze

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Eastlink Badminton Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand	Renuga Veeran	Setyana Mapasa Gronya Somerville	14–21, 20–22	Silver
2015	X-TRM North Harbour Badminton Centre, Auckland, New Zealand	Gronya Somerville	Talia Saunders Jennifer Tam	21–14, 21–11	Gold
2012	Ken Kay Badminton Stadium, Victoria, Australia	Renuga Veeran	Ann-Louise Slee Eugenia Tanaka	21–16, 21–13	Gold
2010	Stadium Southland, Invercargill, New Zealand	Kate Wilson-Smith	Leisha Cooper Ann-Louise Slee	22–20, 21–11	Gold

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	Eastlink Badminton Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand	Matthew Chau	Sawan Serasinghe Setyana Mapasa	19–21, 18–21	Silver
2016	Punaauia University Hall, Papeete, Tahiti	Robin Middleton	Anthony Joe Joy Lai	21–11, 21–9	Gold
2015	X-TRM North Harbour Badminton Centre, Auckland, New Zealand	Robin Middleton	Oliver Leydon-Davis Danielle Tahuri	21–12, 21–14	Gold
2012	Ken Kay Badminton Stadium, Victoria, Australia	Glenn Warfe	Raymond Tam Eugenia Tanaka	17–21, 19–21	Silver
2010	Stadium Southland, Invercargill, New Zealand	Chad Whitehead	Henry Tam Donna Haliday	17–21, 24–22, 14–21	Bronze

BWF International Challenge/Series

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2018	North Harbour International	Renuga Veeran	Sally Fu Susannah Leydon-Davis	21–6, 21–12	Winner
2017	Yonex / K&D Graphics International	Renuga Veeran	Rachel Honderich Kristen Tsai	12–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2017	Jamaica International	Rachel Honderich	Mikaylia Haldane Katherine Wynter	21–2, 21–8	Winner
2014	Auckland International	Gronya Somerville	Chang Ching-hui Chang Hsin-tien	11–6, 8–11, 10–11, 9–11	Runner-up
2014	Victorian International	Renuga Veeran	Keshya Nurvita Hanadia Devi Tika Permatasari	13–21, 11–21	Runner-up
2011	Altona International	Renuga Veeran	Amanda Brown Stephanie Cheng	22–20, 21–11	Winner
2010	Altona International	Kate Wilson-Smith	He Tian Tang Renuga Veeran	15–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2010	Tahiti International	Kate Wilson-Smith	Nicole Grether Charmaine Reid	21–12, 19–21, 21–12	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2015	Sydney International	Robin Middleton	Phillip Chew Jamie Subandhi	21–8, 21–17	Winner
2015	Maribyrnong International	Robin Middleton	Sawan Serasinghe Setyana Mapasa	17–21, 21–19, 21–19	Winner
2015	Sri Lanka International	Robin Middleton	Arun Vishnu Aparna Balan	21–15, 17–21, 13–21	Runner-up
2011	Brazil International	Glenn Warfe	Halim Ho Eva Lee	11–21, 15–21	Runner-up
2011	Altona International	Glenn Warfe	Kevin Dennerly-Minturn Stephanie Cheng	22–20, 21–11	Winner
2010	Tahiti International	Glenn Warfe	Ross Smith Kate Wilson-Smith	14–21, 21–13, 18–21	Runner-up