Chris Kinard (born November 8, 1950, in Pasadena, California) is an American badminton player who was considered the top U.S. singles player in the 1970s, having been the U.S. # 1 ranked men's singles player for 7 of the decade's 10 years. He is married to former badminton player Utami Kinard.
Badminton career Kinard won the U.S. Men's Singles Championship 6 times (1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981). and was the #1 U.S. player 7 times (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981). He was a member of every U.S. National Thomas Cup Team from 1969 to 1982 (competition then held every 3 years). Kinard played #1 singles on the '73, '79, & '82 Thomas Cup Teams. He was also the #1 U.S. Singles player on the 1977 Pan American Team.
Along with his U.S. titles, Chris Kinard won the South African Open Doubles Championship in 1971, the South African Open Singles Championship in 1980, the Peruvian Open Singles and Doubles Championship in 1976, the Peruvian Mixed Doubles Championship in 1974, and the Mexican Open Mixed Championship in 1979. Kinard also won the triple crown at the National Collegiate Men's Badminton Championships in 1977 winning the collegiate singles and doubles championships and leading his UCLA team to the national team title.
Additional badminton career highlights
1973 - Kinard was invited by the Indonesian Badminton Association to train with its World Champion team, including individual World Champions Rudy Hartono, Christian Hadinata, Tjun Tjun, Liem Swie King, Ade Chandra, Johan Wahjudi.
1979 - Kinard was chosen to represent badminton in the made for television event, World Rackets Championships. Other athletes included: John McEnroe (tennis), Marty Hogan (racquetball), Dan Seemiller (table tennis), Sharif Khan (squash).
1980 - Kinard reached the round of 16 in the World Singles Championships held in Jakarta, Indonesia before losing to eventual champion, Rudy Hartono.
1980 - Kinard achieved a career high World Singles Ranking of #9
Kinard represented the U.S. in international competition in the following countries: Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand
Awards in Badminton In 1976, he was in Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd"
In 1978, he was recipient of the Ken Davidson Sportsmanship Award
In 1986, he was inducted into the Cal. State Univ. Los Angeles Athletic Hall of Fame
In 2003, he was inducted into the U.S. Badminton Hall of Fame, now Walk of Fame
In 2019, he was inducted into the Pasadena Sports Hall of Fame (Pasadena, California)
Major Achievements in Badminton Titles
Tournament Event Year Result U.S. Championships Men's Singles 1972 Champion Men's Singles 1974Champion Men's Singles 1976Champion Men's Singles 1977Champion Men's Singles 1979Champion Men's Singles 1981 ChampionSouth African Open Men's Singles 1980Champion Men's Doubles 1971ChampionPeruvian Open Men's Singles 1976Champion Men's Doubles 1976Champion Mixed Doubles 1974Champion Mexican Open Mixed Doubles 1979ChampionABA Intercollegiate Championship Men's Singles 1977Champion Men's Doubles 1977Champion Team Championship 1977Champion
Finalist
TournamentEventYearResultU.S. Championships (Las Vegas, Nevada) Men's Doubles1971FinalistU.S. Championships (Omaha, Nebraska)Men's Doubles1972FinalistU.S. Championships (Heyward, California)Men's Doubles1974FinalistU.S. Championships (Omaha, Nebraska)Men's Singles1980FinalistSouth African OpenMen's Doubles1980Finalist
References